Big K Magazine Issue 05

Australia

$ 1 . 70 .

New Zealand
$ 2 . 00 .
Malaysia
$ 3 . 25 .

REVIEWS

SPECIAL REPORT U.S.A.
The Newest, The Latest!
Lett^^osk/Arcade Alley
68000 Assembler/Books
Dotkslayer and

Mucl^ much More!

WARNING; These programs are sold according to QUICKSILVA Ltd’s terms of trade and conditions of sale, copies of which are available on request

I TTTfTTpTTJTTTTTJ and leading multiplf; rf;lail..TS

specialist computer stori-s

FRED

SNOWMAN

. The
Snowman

m

BOOGABOO

VELNOR’S LAIR

ANT ATTACK

DRUMKIT

BBC £9.95

(IN A BOX * BOOKLET)

GATE CRASHER

NEW NEW GENERATION ON
COMMODORE 64

TRASHMAN £7.95
3D TUNNEL £7.95
ESCAPE £7.95

NEW

ELECTRO-ART

ELECTRON

£14.95

BBC ELECTRON
£6 95

Editor: TONY TYLER. Assistant Editor: RICHARD BURTON. Art Editor: IAN STEAD. Features: NICKY XIKLUNA
Contributors: ANDY GREEN, KIM ALDIS, PAUL WALTON, STEVE KEATON, PATRICK MARTIN, RICHARD TAYLOR
BERNARD TURNER, DAVE RIMMER, RICHARD COOK. Cartoons: TONY BENYON. Group Art Editor: DOUG CHURCH
Advertisement Manager: ROBIN JOHNSON (01-261 5119) Publisher: BARRY LEVERETT

BACK IN THE U.S A.

The Chicago C.E.S. was a non-event (see p. 12).

Oppressed hy the failure of Adam and the IBM PCjr, and
mesmerised hy the dominance of the CBM 64, the Cousins
are floundering. Perhaps decent games aren’t so much a
matter of technology as good design sense. So how come us
Brits haven’t yet broken through Over There? Maybe next
year... TONY TYLER

Editorial Address: BIG K,
Room 2038, IPC Magazines Ltd.,
King's Reach Tower,
Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS.

Telephone: 01-261 5818/6249

CONTENTS

MINES! for BBC.10

SPACE SEEKER for SPECTRUM.40

SPEED ARENA for VIC-20.56

BOGGLE forZXSI.66

PLATFORM LEAPER for SPECTRUM.70

PLANET ELECTRO for VIC-20.84

SPRITE CREATOR for CBM 64 ..36

Pick of the Month.14

Review Pages.15

68000 Assembler Part 2.45

Boost Your Beeb's Memory.52

Wonder Widgets.60

AWindy City Wind Up.12

Where Are Next Year's Games Coming From? .... 28

The Image Benders.72

Atari Graphics.54

Richard Taylor's Spectrum Graphics.68

So you think
your res Is hi?
Check page
72 for the
REAL state of

thp art At

On-Line News.3

Classic Games of Our Time.34

Dorkslayer.44

Charts.48

Fie Wrote One.50

Zip Code.76

Books.77

Arcade Alley.88

Letterbase.92

Win a Trip to Florida, U.S.A.58

TX-1 is the flashest arcade
game yet (p. 88). Three sim¬
ultaneous screens bring Le
Mans pizazz to your home¬
town.

Published approximately on the 20th of each month by IPC Magazines Ltd., King’s Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SEl 9LS, telephone 01-261 5000. Monotone and colour origination by
G.M. Litho Ltd., Princes Risborough, Bucks. Printed in England by Chase Web Offset, Cornwall. Sole Agents: Australia and New Zealand, Gordon & Gotch (A/sia) Ltd.; South Africa, Central News
Agency Ltd. BIG K is sold subject to the following conditions, namely that it sh^ not, without the written consent of the Publishers first given, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of
trade at more than the recommended selling price shown on the cover, and that it shall not be lent, resold or hired out or otherwise disposed of in a mutilated condition or any unauthorisedcover by way of
trade or affixed to as part of any publication or advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever, (g) IPC MAGAZINES 1984.

CHANGING

OUR IMAGE

•••

m

ftDGY DEALER
p make the right
[Sion? You have
^rehouse and a
rou have experts
eports and extra
i! But be carefui -
ley is not as easy
as you think!

rnd frustration!

A TeST

you%
fend your pr cl
the Product Dm

enquirie J
kavaltable

COUNTER /ATTACK

A game of strategy. Choose your
coiour, choose your ruies. Biocks
are coming down and across ... But
there is a twist in it! Calm control
and cunning skill is required!

r BBC

COMMODORE 64
£6.50

BBC

£6.50

Overseas Orders
Please add
£1.00 per
game purchased.

O.i.C.Ltd.

15 Burghead Close, College Town
ramberlevi Surrey GUTS 4XL

"AM on Planet Srexis Is threatened! Your
sktfis can save them from extermination by
repairing the GRID, their power source and
lifeline - but be warned ...

. A game of speed and co-ordination.
i BBC&

W ACORN ELECTRON

m COMMODORE 64

^ SPECTRUM

£6.95 inclusive

rite a top seller?
k or assessment to
ent Manager at

HOW TO ORDER

To purchase any of the games illustrated, fill in
your requirements on a piece of paper, stating game(s),
micro, name and address, enclosing your cheque/P.O.
made payable to 0.1.C. Ltd,and post to address below.

-- t cr^c TnxAJhi nAMRFRl EY.

<TAPE 2 ConiBins sevetiT

setsJihe^Greekl
invad^diar;
men, fcons and i
Graphic Design Truly i

’ case,
chess
more!

ort animator

he Sort Animator program allows you to
watch a sort in action. This product
covers a suite of programs that are
designed to provide the “Viewer” with a
simplified method of a variety of sorting
methods. A number of sorting methods
are introduced, animated and

Five sorting methods. Lots ot

entertainment and enjoyment using ti^

ciinnlied.

I^e/come.
\wH SMITHS.

SURREY GUIS 4XL

DTicau 4 Chsracter
RTISANIlceneratur

I that makes the
multiple shapes
be an insight to
tbn techniques.
b\main Artisan
»\and several
W animated

This is a desigiVV
creation of single
easy, and will p^
aninw

TAPE 1 Contain^
prog

Can
entrepreneurial
£5000 bank loan
three year old
to advise you, yei
money to play
making.

YES, BUTWILL IT WORD PROCESS?

SEIKO ARE
selling what must
^ be the smallest,
most portable com¬
puter in the world — but
you can't play games on it.
Yet. But you will when they
bring out a larger electronic
base-station early next year.

The Seiko Data 2000 is the
first true computer-in-wrist-
watch, as opposed to just
being a glorified calculator.
It can hold 2,000 characters
in a "notepad" memory —
the equivalent of around a
page of Big K. So far only

data can be entered via an
associated pocket keyboard
— it can't be programmed.
But for around £129.50 it's
not bad! And when the next,
larger base-station is avail¬
able it will be possibleto pro¬
gram with it in a very, very
limited dialect of MBasic.

And the Seiko reps who
have so far been using Data
2000 to keep their appoint¬
ments, or important tele¬
phone numbers, or just
keeping tabs on the numbers
sold so far reckon that they
have come up with a novel

game using Data 2000 —
trying to find that important
detail in the recess of the
Personal Data Bank's twin
memory.

The four-line screen dis¬
plays ten characters per line.
A pocket notepad, out in the
spring, will up this to a
videogarne-playing sized
screen. And then Seiko will
begin to sell portable games,
a spokesman said, which are
entered from the base-sta¬
tion and played wherever
you want...

WULF AT
THE DOOR

ULTIMATE HAVE done it
again.

Following the success of
Atic Atac and Lunar Jetman,
the Ashby-based company,
thought by some to be the
pre-eminent games design¬
ers in the country, have
launched Sabre Wulf as their
follow-up. Howeverthe price
has been increased from
£5.50 to £9.95 to reflect
'increased development
time'.

Sabre Wulf is the most
brilliantly-coloured and pol¬
ished offering from Ultimate
to date. Set in a fantasy
jungle, it follows the general
Atic Atac format with high¬
speed moving, fast decision¬
making, crystal-clear anima¬
tion and graphics, easy sto¬
ryline, and all the overall
finesse generally expected of
Ultimate.

Advance orders indicate
that by the time you read this,
the game will have been In
the national best-selling
charts for some weeks.

HARDWARE WARS PART 89

WITH arrival of the long-awaited
Amstrad Softspot are announcing a
series of Amstrad games — among the
first companies to do so.

The plot: Uncle Claude of Sincrum
Research Is threatening to increase the
price of his electrical goods and workers'
jobs are at stake. "ELECTRO FREDDIE"
must push the goods onto the conveyor

belt to be packed. You must crush the
avuncular Claude with his own products
whilst ducking his barrage of Spectrlms
and Oracs. Dead subtle, this stuff.

There are 11 levels, key option, mov¬
ing force barrier and custard pies. This
method of Inter-rival vitriol chucking
could run and run! Let's see if it
causes a response from the benefi¬
cial patriarch. And let's see what flak
I the Amstrad gets back!

DRAGON FAILS TO DRAG ON

DRAGON 32 OWNERS will continue to receive
support and servicing for their machine into
the foreseeable future — though it now seems
likely that new software for the ill-fated Welsh
machine will dry up before long.

The 6809-driven Dragon, whose crash six
weeks ago had been widely predicted, failed
because its initial lead in sales dried up once
Acorn and Sinclair came properly on-line with
the BBC and Spectrum computers. Ham¬
pered since then by its unusual processor. Its
lack of lower-case letters and other curiosa,
the dragon nonetheless possessed an excel¬
lent BASIC and was widely liked by Its esti¬
mated 150,000 users. However it never
recovered its early promise and despite mas¬
sive injections of cash went under in early
June.

However Dragon peripheral and software
makers like Compusense have promised to
support the machine for as long as users
desire them to. It is thought likely that while
existing Dragon titles on other makers' cata¬
logues will continue to be sold, new games
for the machine are not now very likely to
appear in great numbers.

(N.B.: BIG

K will con- /N.
tinue to print
Dragon pro-

gram list- g)m

ings for as
long as we
continue to

receive M/M m)k

them.)

ON-LINE

IMAGINE NO POSSESSIONS (Part 2)

GAMES SOFTWARE market
leader Imagine is in difficulty. In
recent weeks it has sold off its
back catalogue of best-selling,
titles, delayed the launch of its
'Megagames', has had to close
one of its plush headquarters
buildings, has laid off staff and
is now becoming embroiled in
several legal tangles.

Imagine admits that "difficul¬
ties" followed repayment of a
reported £200,000 to publishers
Marshal Cavendish for games
written on contract (they were
rejected). And a special con¬
tracts division, costing some
£500,000 to establish, has failed
to take off.

The recent seasonal slump in
games' sales hit Imagine among
others and is thought to have
contributed to a severe cash
shortage. While he would not
comment on details, Tim Best,
an Imagine spokesman, did

reckon that "The death knell is
beginning to sound" for many
games software houses, not
least because of the low stan¬
dard of many products.

Imagine has slimmed down its
sales and distribution teams,
now selling only the latest titles
Cosmic Cruiser and BC Bill. It has
laid off at least ten staff and has
closed down it^ internal art
department, known as Studio
Sting. But Best claimed that "we
will gear up and expand again
when the Megagames are
launched."

This means that Imagine's
next, deluxe games range has,
to date been delayed for at least
two months. The price is now
expected to be down from £30
to around £20.

The company's plush five-sto¬
rey headquarters in Liverpool's
City Centre at 5 Sir Thomas
Street were vacated last month.

WHAT'S
GOING ON?

"IMAGINE PROGRAM¬
MER Mike Glover has
come up with an Injecta-
load program which
makes Commodore 64
loading as fast as disc."
(From an Imagine han¬
dout)

"Melbourne House have
developed . : . the Pav-
loda System specifically
for the Commodore 64
which enables cassette
programs to be loaded at
the same speed as pro¬
grams from disc."

(From a Melbourne House
handout)

That's nothing. We here
at BIG K, using a unique
system, have now devel¬
oped our own way of get¬
ting Commodore 64 disc
drives to load "at least as
fast" as a standard Tai¬
wan-made cassette
recorder. The system,
codenamed BELTIT, is still
in the "experimental"
stage but inside sources
confidently expect the
technique to be marketed
later this year by the
newly-formed Big Steal
Software. Expect similar
announcements from
other magazines soon.

HOOLIGAN

WORLD CUP, a 3D soccer
arcade game for the
Spectrum by Artie, has hit
the stands at £6.95.

Players may select from
40 teams. Artie claim great
graphics. Features include

optional continuous
music, practice mode,
pause action. Bring your
own rattle and/or woolly
scarf. No mob violence
tolerated. Oh all right —
just a bit.

NOWIT
CM BE
TOLD...

IN CASE you've been
wondering (what — you
haven't?) just who the Lords
of Midnight are, or were, all
has been revealed.

No, not a New York street
gang of Puerto Rican extrac¬
tion, but a new concept in
computer gaming, devel¬
oped by ace Scouse pro¬
grammer Mike Singleton for
Beyond Software.

The Lords of Midnight are
you, plus as many of your
cronies as want to come
along. Described as an 'Epic
Game' — as opposed to an
Adventure — the prog bears
certain similarities to the
standard adventure format
(graphically enhanced), such
as The Hobbit, but differs
markedly in that instead of
phrase choice being left to
the player, Singleton has
devised a series of con¬
stantly-updated multiple
choices, to be responded to
via a special keyboard over¬
lay. As a result he has been
able to cram in an immense

number of locations — as
well as the ability for four
players to take part at once
with equal status.

These four can in turn gen¬
erate or activate new char¬
acters which thereafter
respond to the same sche¬
matic.

Though Singleton is shy
about his sources, The Lord
of Midnight Is the most Tolk-
ienian computer scenario yet
— It bears a far closer resem¬
blance to a compound of The
Silmarillion and The Lord of
the Rings than The Hobbit
does to The Hobbit.

How does it play? "Com¬
plicated" is the best word.
Visuals are produced by
"landscaping", so that where
a character looks, what he
sees is what he sees.

ON-LINE

SIM NEWS

A SIMULATOR which will help
investigators '^pick-up-the-
pieces" after an airline crash,
rather than teaching the pilot not
to crash in the first place as most
of today's simulators are
designed to do, has been
unveiled by NASA.

The $15 million Man-Vehicle
Systems Research Facility
(MVSRF, or Mavis for short) takes
flight simulation that last, cata¬
strophic step further. It is
intended to test the reactions of
pilots under stress.

For instance, one plane took
hundreds of people to their
deaths in the Florida Everglades
back in 1974 while the four-man
crew all struggled to replace a
burnt-out light bulb!

Already fhis simulator has*
been employed to design the —
safer — cockpit of the future,
dubbed LN-1995. Here pilots
have more room to move around
the desk-top computer-con¬
trolled flight panel. One reason
for changing to this more office¬
like cabin was the revelation that
pilots trained on simulators
actually believed that a real plane
was. In effect, a giant simulator,
when they got into difficulties.

So, before the new, safer cabin
is ready, NASA will train pilots
on a composite of the old and
the new so that pilots don't have
a chance to become accustomed
to a simulator where they can
just walk away from crashes.
Real life, after all, isn't like that,..

GO! AND SIN NO MORE!

THE STARTLING NEWS has reached BIG K that Gamblers Anonymous are undertaking
a survey of electronic gaming machines in amusement arcades. Why? to investigate the
detrimental effect which they might have on the young and gullible. And this study will
also take in some of the more "addictive" videogames, according to a G.A. spokesman
Why the concern? "Young people are spending too much time in amusement arcades
learning habits that might take a lifetime to lose," he said. "We're seeing far more young
people now, because gambling electronically is not as well regulated as going into a
casino or bookie's."

The Law ("Be upstanding") says that people under the age of 18 should not be allowed
"to game", or gamble, in amusement arcades. This definition doesn't include playing
games though, only those where you bet and may win back — or lose — money I
So if a kindly soul down the arcade taps you on the shoulder and asks you to repent,
don t sock him in the mouth. S/he might be a researcher from G.A. looking out for your
best interests — not taking away your free plays!

New video/laser bolt-ons
announced at CES

A "PLUG" from a micro into a
laser-driven videodisc player,
shown in London for the first
time by JVC in May, will eventu¬
ally allow computer games to
incorporate animated cartoons
or real live film for no more extra
cost than this hardware.

JVC is one of more than a
dozen Japanese suppliers which
are launching compatible, MSX
micros — sold on their abilities
to run the same software across
machines from different sup¬
pliers. And at the Consumer
Electronics show it became
obvious that the real difference
between MSX micros will be the
fancy peripherals which can be
latched onto them.

Toshiba, for instance, was
demonstrating a rather natty see-
through perspex synthesiser

keyboard which can be pro¬
grammed for any combination
of sounds from the MSX.

But the Birdie Try demo was
the most fascinating. The player
selects a number of options —
the wide direction, the power of
a shot, its course and even the
Iron employed — from which the
JVC MSX micro then computes
the shot. The videodisc whirrs
into action and the actual shot is
then displayed. Up to 600 differ¬
ent shots can be stored on each
videodisc. After each shot your
score, or handicap is displayed.

As a JVC person pointed out,
"Birdie Try combines the two
major obsessions of the Japa¬
nese businessman — electron¬
ics and golf!" But they're the only
ones who can have the actual
technology now, in this case the
£230 VHD interface unit B7550
'MSX-to-videodisc player, is not
yet planned for Europe, but the
MSX micro will be here in Octo¬
ber priced around £300.

JVC are developing interac¬
tive laser disc games, which will
show the action a split-second
after It's been programmed —
these are expected to be on sale
in Japan by the autumn, but its
not known when they will reach
our shores either.

48K SPECTRUM £5.50

COMMODORE 64 £6.50

48K SPECTRUM £5.50

48K SPECTRUM £5.50

BBC MODEL B £6.50

(i^^) AVAILABLE FROM LEADING DEALERS EVERYWHERE

OR DIRECT FROM

Incentive Software Ltd, 54 London St,

48K SPECTRUM £5.50

48K SPECTRUM £5.50

48K SPECTRUM CHALLENGE
FROM INCENTIVE SOFTWARE LTD

1984

A GAME OF

GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT

Reading RG1 4SQ (0734) 591678

ON-LINE

. E\/^EFR\^ yA^HIGH

Wti 9 t pill get in Mission to
Mm^^' a fashionably par-
aifSid World War 3 "game''
now bn sale In the US.

THEY'RE CUMMIN' TO
GETCHA

DOMESTIC ROBOTS are catching on — but experts say
that they're still a couple of years away from being in the
shops.

Firms such as Electrolux, the cleaning appliance giant,
and Qualcast, the lawn-mower people, have retained the
services of the Cranfield Institute of Technology to inves¬
tigate. They have two prototype designs: a guided robot
which follows wiring along the floor to complete a set
task; and a free-roaming device replete with ultrasonic
and infrared communications with its computer brain.

A dozen "hobby"robots are now coming on the market
for £10 to £2,500. And the domestic variety should add no
more than £35-£100 on top of the cost of most household
items, according to workers at Cranfield... when they're
in control!

Somehow we think there's a whiff of optimism around.

CONFUSION REIGNED
among computer and soft¬
ware manufacturers at this
year's Chicago Consumer
Electronics Show (reports
RICHARD BURTON). While
little radically new was
shown, in either hard- or
software form, established
American giants appeared to
be marking time, or even
making further ill-advised
decisions.

Atari, against all expecta¬
tions, have weighed in with
yet another dedicated video-
game system, the Pro-
System 7800 (albeit with
optional bolt-on keyboard), at
a time when they have
already lost a substantial
share of the budget US home
computer market to the
Commodore 64.

Commodore themselves
have produced two new
models at the lower-priced
end, the Plus Four — appar¬
ently targeted on the same
small-business user as Sin¬
clair's QL — and the Com¬
modore 16, widely seen as a
revamped Vic-20 in a new
case. VVhile Coleco, who have
made their own impact in the
past, are still avowing sup¬
port for the Adam system,
despite poor performance in
the machine's first six
months of sales.

The Commodore 64 is now
the dominant machine in the
US domestic scene; most
other competition is fading
fast. And the advent of MSX

has left US manufacturers
responding in various ways.
While some have to date
ignored MSX, Activision
have announced an upcom¬
ing range of MSX titles.
Imagic, after a shaky year,
continue to bring out new
games for the IBM PC jr
("Peanut") — another much-
boosted machine with dis¬
appointing sales perform¬
ance.

UK manufacturers were
barely represented at the
Show, with only Quicksilva
and Virgin in any way con¬
spicuous,. But British buyers
were adamant that the UK
has little if anything to learn
from the US in the games-
writing field.

Full report p.12.

Atari Announce
New Chip-Wrapper

POLE POSITION, Atari's
best selling race-car
game, is coming out on
Spectrum, BBC Model B
(£14.95) and CBM 64
(£24.99). Now get this!

You will also acquire a
FREE GRAND PRIX
POSTER! WOW! So if
you want to cover up
that chink in the wall or
would like a lively
change of chip-wrapper
— go for it!

The price stays at
£29.99.

dl-TECH NEWS = HI-TECH NEWS' HITECH NEWS' H

AGF HARDWARE'S PROTOCOL
4 is a programmable joystick
interface that gives compatibil¬
ity between any Joystick or
trackball and absolutely any
Spectrum software. The system
comes on dedicated credit card
style cards, of which four are
supplied on purchase, plus one
blank, programmable card. The
PROTOCOL 4 will cost £29.95.
Enquiries to 0243 823337.

SPRITE-SMITTEN 64 owners
can now go get Go-Sprite. The
new sprite editor from Mirror-
soft enables simple animation
of up to 32 sprites with 255
frames. You can file your sprites

by night on disc or tape, or dis¬
play by day with the data dis¬
play option. You can operate the
whole gizmo with one joystick,
and the prog has light pen and
keyboard options. Go forth and
multiply.

ORIC GOES ape with disc-ware!
Combatting the deadly dearth
of discs, Oric's new Hitachi-
based 3" disc drive system has
finally arrived with a starter
pack comprising both biz and
games disc software. The
widget checks in at £299.95,
which includes Frog Hop, Star
Ship Valiant, Rat-Spiat, and a
Chess game featuring voice
synthesis.

HI -TECH NEWS » HI -TECH NEWS ' HI TECH NEWS ' H

To. . . Beyond Competition House, {

Famdon Road, Market Harhorough,

Leicestershire LEI99NR.

1

Please send me . . .

QXY

Total Price

THE LORDS OF MIDNIGHT £9.95

PSYTRON£7.95

SPELLBOUND £5.95

BEYOND ORDER HOTLINE 0858 34567
BEYOND ENQUIRY HOTLINE 0L251 8496

GRAND

TOTAL

I enclose a Postal Order/Cheque payable
to Beyond, or charge my credit card.

Card Number

Access/Visa (Delete as necessary)

NAME

ADDRESS

POSTCODE

SIGNATURE

all prices incliule p&p

Please rush me details of the “ENTER the BEYOND”
Software Club . . .

UNIVEBSITIES

• Un^erslty of Leicester, Depaitmonf
of Psychology

• The Finance & Estates Officer,
University College of Swansea

• University of East Anglia, School of
Biological Science

• Westfield College, University of
London

• Westfield College, Department of
Zoology, University of London

• School of Physics, University of
Newcastle upon Tyne

• Oxford University Computing
Service

• The University of Warwick

J # University of Aberdeen, Department
I of Geography

• The University of Sussex
I # University of Bristol

^ • Herlot-Watt University Dept, of Civil
Engineering

^ • The New University of Ulster
'i # The University of Strathclyde

• The University of Southampton

• University of Liverpool

• "nie University of Aston In
Birmingham

• University of Keeie

• University of Surrey

• University College of London

• The University of Dundee,
Microcomputer Centre

POLYTECHNICS

• Thames Polytechnic

• Polytechnic of the South Bank

• Coventry (Lanchester) Poly

• Dept of Applied Chemistry Coventry
I (Lanchester) Poly

I • Newcastle upon Tyne Poly

• Manchester Polyt^hnlc

• Hatfield Polytechnic Dept, of
Psychology

• The Polytechnic

• Leeds Polytechnic

• Kingston Polytechnic

• City of Birmingham Polytechnic

• Middlesex Polytechnic

• Plymouth Pol^echnic

• Portsmouth Polytechnic

• Ulster Polytechnic

• Liverpool Polytechnic

COLLEOES

m Chelsea College, University of
London

• Guildford C.C. of Technology

• Kings College, London

• University College of Swansea

• Statistics Department, Computer
Centre Building, University Cofiege
of Swansea

• Nene College, Computer Services

• Cambridgeshire College of Arts and
Technology

• London Borough of Haverii^i The

\ I Principal Havering Technical

-| College

• Blackpool and Fytde College

• Jordanhill College of Education
. # Bromley College of Technology
; • Guildford County College of

^ Technology
^ • Kilmarnock College

• Wearside College of F. Education

• Wearside College of F. Education,
Dept, of Electrical & Mining

• Newark TC School/Coliege

• National College of Agrlcuttural
I Engineering

0 Bradford & llkley Community
College

• Goldsmiths College

• College of Arts & Technology

• Head Craft, Design & Tech.

• South London (Allege

0 St. Columbus College

0 Bobert Gordon’s Institute of
Technology

0 Cheimer institute of Higher
Education

0 Southwark College, Maths/Physics
Department

0 Newark Technical College

0 Mattock College of Higher Education

0 Wakefield District College
0 Barnstey College of Technology
0 The College of St. Paul & St. Mary
0 Thanet Technical College
0 Ballymena Technical College
0 Cannock Chase Technical College
0 Lancastor & Morecambe College of
Further ^ucation
j0 Uxbridge Technical College
0 New Coltoge Dur^m
0 Bath College of Higher Education
0 North Trafford College
0 Dept of Educational Hesources
0 Southampton College of Higher
Education

0 Bournemouth and Poole College of
Further Education

0 Harrow College of Higher Education
0 Southall College of Technology
0 Shirecllffe College
0 Southwark College
0 Dewsbury & Batley Technical A Art
College

0 Tresham College
0 Ware College
0 Thurrock Technical College
0 Chlcklade College, Dept. Science &
Technology

0 Redbridge Technical College
0 Soudi Thames Colt^

0 York College of Arte & Tech.

0 Somerset Coftege of Arts &
Technology

0 Borough of Trafford, North Trafford
College

0 North Trafford College
0 Thurrock Technical College
0 Thurrock Technical College,
Computer Department
0 Fairham Community College
0 Mid College of Higher & Further
Education

0 East Ham College of Technology
0 Seate-Hayne College
0 Homerton College
0 Uxbridge Technical College
0 North Oxfordshire Technical College
& School of Art

0 Ealing College of Higher Education
0 Welsh National School of Medicine
0 Lord Mayor Treioar College
0 South East London College
0 Farnborough (Sixth Form) College
0 Wigston College of Further
Education * Annex*

0 Strode’s College
0 Dundee College of Education
0 Isle of Wight College of Arte and
Technology

0 Kendal College of Further Education
0 Wigan College of Technology
0 Chippenftem Technical Coll^

0 South Devon College of Arts A
Technology

0 South Shields Marine & Technical
College

SCHOOLS

0 Camborne School of Mines
0 Longton High School
0 Berry Hill High School
0 Camborne School of Mines
Management Department
0 School of Physics
0 Queen Philippa’s School
0 Carter Lodge School
0 Ashfield School
0 All Hallows School
0 Mead Vale Primary School
0 Vincent Thompson High School
0 St. Aubyn’s School
0 Imberhorne School
0 Newham School for the Deaf
0 Dorcan School
0 Beaumont School
0 Blitericay School
0 Exeter School Computer
Department
0 Clarendon School
0 The Lavinia Norfolk Unit
0 St. John’s C of E Primary School
0 St. Peter’s High School
0 Rock Ferry High School
0 Stoke on Trent Language Centre
0 Connah’s Quay High School
0 Buckhurst Hill County High School

0 Harilngton Upper School
0 Heath Comprehensive School
0 The High School Ballynahinch
0 Bishop Hedley High School
0 Clwyd Lea School
0 Monks Dyke High School
0 King Edward's School, Bath
0 The Godolphin & Latymer School
0 Frances Bardsley School
0 Shaw House Comprehensive
0 New Parks School
0 St Paul’s Way School
0 Larkman Middle School
0 Rushcroft High School
0 Training and Educ. Management
0 High Green School
0 Ogmore Comprehensive School
0 ^k 0 fihale School
0 Oxford International Business
School

0 Hampstead School

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
0 Hertfordshire County Council
Advisory Unit for (^mputers
0 Leicestershire County Council
0 The Director of Finance &
Administration, Cambridgeshire
County Council

0 The National Institute for Medical
Res^rch

0 Department of the Environment
Building Research Establishment
0 Kent County Council Education
Department
0 Ministry of Defence
0 Basildon Council Accounts
Department

0 Department of Trade
0 Devon County Council Committee,
Department of Electrical Eng,

College of Further Education
0 Strathclyde Regional Council,

0 County Borough of Sunderland
0 Kent County Council
0 Nottinghamshire County Council
0 Basildon District Council
0 Cityof Newcastle upon Tyne
Educadon Committee
0 Haii^Shire County Council
0 Buckinghamshire County Council,
Edimation Services
0 Cambridgeshire Education
Committee

0 Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead
0 Cleveland Education Committee,
Gulsborough Teachers Centre
0 Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale,
Education and Training Centre
0 Leicestershire Education Committee
0 Departmentof Industry & Trade
0 Leteester Info. Tech. Centre
0 Solihull Education Department
0 Manpower Services Commission,
Training Services Division
0 Skill Centre Training Agency
0 Pow^ County Council
0 Information Technology Centre
0 East Berkshire Health Authority
0 Devon County Council Ed. Comm.

0 Mid Surrey Health Authority
0 Epsom District Hospital
0 Scottish Council for Educational
Technology

0 Clwyd County Council
0 Norfolk Education Committee
0 Agrlcuttural & Food Research
Council

0 Mid Glamorgan County Council
Educadon Department
0 Kent County Supplies Centre
0 London Borough of Barnet
0 West Midlands fteglomil Health
Audiority

0 Scottish Community Education
Council

0 The Scottish Adult Basic Education
Unit

0 Birmingham Social Services
0 Microelectronics Education
Programs

0 Greater London Council
0 Doncaster fttetropolitan Borough
Council

0 United Kingdom Atomic Energy
Authority

BRITISH MICnO

i. A MPftnTCinM Anni ip nnMPANV \ Init m Wnrkft imroiriRl Waw Watfrwrt Wfl!? 4YY TPI *

COMPANIES

0 Cambridge Applied Micros
0 Sirton Computer Systems
0 Assurance Sun Lite Court
0 Radafa & Associates
0 Computer Services
0 Laser Systems Ltd
0 National Physical Laboratory
0 Central Trade Exchange Ltd
0 Software Invasion
0 Argonaut Systems
0 IntegrexLtd

0 British Telecommunications
0 B.T. Research Labs Accounts
0 Windsor Wine Supplies
0 JannerlowLtd
0 Ibbotsons Design Software
0 H.C.C.S. Association Ltd
0 MolspIn Ltd
0 Flsons Pharmaceuticals,
Pharmaceutical Division
0 Information Technology Marketing
0 Steele Microsystems Ltd
0 The Television Centre
0 Education & Microtech Unit
0 British Telecom Enterprises
0 Display Distribution Ltd
0 Northern Gas
0 Spencer Source Trading
0 BBC Publications
0 M.S. Simnett Computers Ltd
0 Rosvilie Timothy Ltd
0 M.E. Electroncis
0 Microstore

0 Eastern Region Info. Centre
0 The Video Palace
0 Laser Creations Ltd
0 Lasermadon
0 Custom Video Productions
0 BBC TV South

0 Kellogg Company of Great Britain
Ltd

0 The British Library
0 Walter Computer Systems
0 Standard Telecommunications
Laboratories Ltd

0 Granada Computer Services Ltd
0 Applied Systems Knowledge Ltd
0 Cipher Systems and
Communications Ltd
0 Cogwell, Cornick Associates
0 Ashfield Pro|ect Centre
0 Andrew Shyte & Son Ltd
0 Acomsoft
0 Robot Technology Ltd
0 British Shipbuilders (Training, Ed. &
Safety) Ltd

0 Boston Computers Handelsges
0 Fisher Controls Ltd
0 Timex Corporation
0 Robot Technology Ltd
0 United Kingdom Atomic ^ergy
Authority

0 British Aerospace Public Ltd
0 Salam Group Ltd
0 Plessey Avionics & Comm.

0 Elite Software Co. Ltd
0 Computer Advisory Unit,
Cheimer-lnstitute
0 Intec (Inverclyde) Ltd
0 Universal Sonar Ltd
0 DIgItat Equipment Scotland Ltd
0 Edward Davies Chemical Labs.

0 Pyramid Services Ltd
0 Philips Research Laboratories
0 Klngsway-Princeton College
0 Microtronix S.A.R.L.

0 Thomas Law Associates
0 Transvicteo Productions Ltd
0 Dash Electrical & Electronic
Services

0 Aaken Engineering
0 The Electricity Council
0 Triptych Publishing Ltd
0 ZXData
0 OctoconData
0 North Wales Newspapers Lid
0 Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd
0 National Coal Board
0 Five Ways Software Ltd
0 EdetaLtd

0 John Elmer Office Equipment
0 Mlcronet

0 Central Electricity Generatirtg Board
0 Guernsey Computers Ltd
0 Currah Computer Components Ltd

L TELEX: S46024

THEGBAFPffD comes complete with Cassette
Programme, Special Keyboard, Overlay, Plug, Light Pen
and, of course, a comprehensive manual full of tips and
instructions ... all at the usual high qi^ality expected from

^RITISH MICRO!

i STARTING UP is
^rriple. Connect the
raf^d, switch on your
p^trum and connect
the cassette player, type
“LOAD” and press
ENTER, then start the
cassette player, place
the keyboard overlay,
and by the time you are
ready, the “MENU” will
flash on to your screen!
Usage? Well there is ...

GRAFPAD

iiit0 the futurei

iK Export inquiries invited

Post to: BRITISH MICRO, UNIT 02, PENFOLD WORKS, IMPERIAL
WAY, WATFORD, HERTS. WD2 4YY.

Now you too can have the benefit of drawing your own applications by the simple use

of our NEW ZX Spectrum version of Grafpad!

AS MANY USES AS YOU CAN IMAGINE
by first following our easy manual, then, in
no time, you will be able to utilise as you
Think best!

A UNIQUE PRODUCT that will
Jmprove your skills and give
|%u endless hours of
excitement!

BY POST:

Simply fill in the coupon enclosing your
cheque/RO. made payable to: BRITISH
MICRO or use the special section for
Credit Card Holders and post to the
address below.

OVERSEAS ORDERS:

Please add £10 per item ordered.

Size

25mm height
55mm width
260 depth ■ ■
weight 1,2k (gross)

if Dealer inquiries welcomed

if Special discounts to educational
authorities & government
departments

low TO ORDER
BY TELEPHONE: (0923) 48222

If you are an American Express,
Barclaycard, Diners Club or Access Card
Holder simply telephone us giving your
Card No., Name, Address and item(s)
required and your order will be
despatched within 48 hours!

Please send me GRAFPAD for; SINCLAIR SPECTRUM
□ BBC MODEL B □ COMMODORE 64
If you require details of the above
versions, please tick.

BRITISH MICRO I

A HEGOTRON GROUP COMPANY

Unit 02, Penfold Works,

Imperial Way, Watford, HERTS WD2 4YY
TEL; (0923) 48222. TELEX; 946024

Qty.

Item

Ex. VAT

Inc. VAT

Total

Grafpad Complete

£125.00

£143.75

Postage, Packing & Insurance

1 enclose my cheque for/RO. £. TOTAL

£5.00

£

I prefer to pay with my American Express, Barclaycard, Diners Club,
Access Card.

(Please delete whichever is not applicable)

Card No.

Signature.

Name.

Address.

Address above must be the same as Card Flolder

10 REM ** Minefield by D. Lucas ■**

20 ON ERROR GOTO 30
30 MODE?

40 CLEAR

50 PROCtitlepaqe

60 PROCdefchar:PROCinit

70 REPEAT
ao MODE?

PROChighscore
LEV/.=20; Scare‘/.=0

M0DE2

j PL.g;VX>50THENLE'?'/^—50

PROCscreen

H7.=TRUE: X=9: Y=29: X1=0
i e7.=FALSE
150 Bonus7.=250
160 REPEAT

170 IF die?. THEN END
180 C0L0UR6

190 PRINTTAB(X,Y)CHR-T248

200 PROCnearmines tmt^ttmE/IO

2 1 0 C0L0UR3 ! PR INfTABdu,!) ; IN

Sv,

'GA1

:Y1=0;TIME=

220

Bonus-/.=Bonus7.-i! IFBonus-/.<0 Bonus'/.-

PRINTTAB(6,2) ; Bonus?.; " "

IF INKEY(-98) THEN PROCleft

INKEY(-6?) THEN PROCright

INKEY(-73) THEN PROCup

INKEY ( — 105) THEN F'ROCdown

INl<kY(-85) ANDH?. THEN PROChelp
UNTIL die?. OR Y=4 -/_cr-nrp?

IFY=4THENLEV?.=LEV?.+5:Score/.-Score/.

+Bonus?.: GOTO 120

310 PROCdead
320 UNTIL FALSE

DEFPROCleft ■,nii'='

f-'F<QCcords: F'ROCcheck (X-1 , Y . ^ p

I FCHAR= 151 OR CHAR= 1 48 THENd i e J f^^JE

IFCHAF(=146THEN: Score?.=Score/.4 j.

_ F0RL?.= 1T04 ^

380 S0UND?<ll,-i0,L?.«lO+.jO,^^ ^

390 X?.=X?.-a: MOVEX?., Y?.: VDU18,0,0, ..uu ,

n A- R 5 F'RClCd^l fo

’ ” 400 XX=X?.-8: MOVEX?., Y?.; ODU18,0, 0 , , 18

(■) h 8 ■ 253s PRFJCde 1 r-KiT-Toonf'

’ 'ito NEXTL?.:Xl=-l:VDU4:PR0Ccirc:ENDFR0L

:?o pfoSor'dsS-ROCchecK (X. 1 ,Y) : VDU5
440 IFCHAR=1510R CHAR=14aTHENdie/.- rRUE
450 IFCHAR=i46THEN: Score/.=Score/.+u(.

460 F0RL?.= 1T04

470 SOUND?ai ,-10,6O-L?.*lO,^

480 X?.= X?.+S:MOVEX?.,Y?.: VDU18,0,0,-...u, 1 .

8 « 2 5 O ■ F R F) Cj d © 1 _ _ /•••, cr cr 1 O

’ ‘490 X?.=X?.+8;M0VEX?.,Y?.: VDU18,0,0,.^UU, 18

,0,6’,8,249:PR0Cdel

330

340

350

360

370

500

51.0

520

530

540

550

‘neXTL?.':'x 1 = 1 : 0DU4: PROCcire: ENDPROC

DEFPROCdown ,,r.ii«=-

PROCcords: F'ROCcheck (X , Y+1) :

IFCHAR= 151 OR CHAR= 1 48 THENd 1 e J ^^UE

I FCHAR= 146 THEN: Sc or e?.=Sc or e /.+ u -
F0RL?.= 1T04

560 souMD&i 1I'-N y., . 4 .iv,n

570 HQVEX?.,Y?.:VDU18,0,0,255: //.-Y/. 4. MO
VEX?., yy.: VDU18 0,6,251: yy.„.4: UO

580 MOVEX?.,YV::VDUia, U,^ ,- 00 . f/.

VEX?., Y?.: VDU18,0,6, 252 : FROCdei

590

600

610

620

630

640

650

660

=1;VDU4

!PROCcire;ENDPROC

NEXTL?.: Yl =

DEFPROCup

PROCrords: F'ROCcheck (X , f- ^....

',PCHAR=1510R CHAR=148THENd^e.= hue

I FCHAR= 146THEN: Scor e?.=Scor e/.+ 0 O
F0RL?.= 1T04

SOUND?< 11,-10 , L?.* 1 0 +1 ^. ^0

MOVF X ?., Y?. : VDU1 a , O , O , 25o: Y /.-Y /. < 4. MU

670 MOVEX?., y:/ : VDU 18,0,0,255: Y?.=Y?+4 ■ Mn
VE X7., Y7.: VDU .18, O , 6,252: F'ROCde 1

690 ^FPROChlTp' = VDU4:PROCcirc:ENDPROC
7^0 ®°"’«='/-=Bonus?.-20: ENDPROC

/^.O DEFFROCcords: X?.=X»64: Y?.= 1023-3"’*V.

ENDPROC o.;-»Y:

730 DEFPR0Ccirc:C0L0UR7;PRINTTAB(X Y)r

HRt243:X = XfXl:Y=Y+Yl:Xl=0:Yl=0;ESR(^^
^^740 DEFPR0Cdel:F0RDE?.=0T0100:NEXTrENDP

75u DEFPROCcheck(Xl%,YIX)

760 L0CALA?.:PRInTTAB(X1?.,Y1?.)5sA?.= 135.
CHAR-(USR (&FFF4) AND.?<FF00)/*/1OO

770 ENDPROC

780 DEFPROCnearmines

790 Mine=0

= ' irafAR=1510R CHAR

-148 THEN Mine=Mine+l

= ' IFCHAR=1510R CHAR

-14H THEN Mine=Mine+l

= ' IFCHAR=1510R CHAR

-148 THEN Nine=Mine+l

= 14a\HFN‘^M^^^^M^’^"'^^ ' ^f"'=^^f^'=1510R CHAR
-148 I HEN Mine=Mine+l

840 C0L0UR4;PRINTTAB(16,0);Mine

850 ENDPROC

860 DEFPROCdead

870 S0UND0,1,100,100

880 F0RM=0T0100;VDU23,0,2,97 O-O-O-

890 F0RDE?.=0T050:NEXT ’ ^

900 VDU23,0,2,99,O;0;0;:NE X T
910 PROCcheckhigh
920 ENDPROC
930DEFPR0Cscreen
940 CLS

950VDU19,0,2; 0;4,23;8202;0;0;O;

960C0L0UR5; F0RM?.=4T029: PRINTTAB (0 M?') r
HR«47; TAB (19, M?.) CHR«47: NEXTM?TforA?=o?

4-■ TA^MV' '^'■^^^■*247; TAB (M?., 29) CHR#.2
/, lAB(M/.+ l..-.,4)CHR$2’47; rAB(M?;+l'7 '?9)CHRf

?:^:^|J^=™-="-^°^2:PRINTTAB(MX,\ica

• " ’’rnPnuc^ ^^ > " NEARBY MINES

- , U. CGLOUR.:-.: PR I NTT AB (0,1)" SCORE: TIM

P: " 5 1^0(0,2) ; "BONUS: TAB (6 1 ) -Scarps

COLOUR 14: PR I NTT AB (9,3) CHR-i:245; CHRi246;

—

for BBC by DANIEL LUCAS

Tread carefully, danger lies all around. Pity you
T^aki the way in these minefields.

and reach the other side safely and

^eve Y^o®u mTnht^a'^ with another more difficult
nlfH 4 9.ht even find some damsels in dire
need of rescuing. It s a great version of an old
favourite ready for you to feed into your Beeb
' iKpif t^ontained within the game

r!fa,!|!nn/hio i!^°" ^ more time

reading this boring blurb.

VEX7., Y7.

;VDLI18,0,6,251:F'RaCdel

1240 Name* (CV.) =Name*: Score'/. (C7.) -Score/.

1250 ENDPROC

1260 DEFPROChiqhscore

1070 FORTy.= 1T02; PR I NTT AB < 5, T7.) ; CHR* 141;
CHR* 133; "MIIcefield hibh scores":next
I'^BO FaRL“/.= lT09

1090 PR I NTT AB (2, L7.+5) ; CHR* (128+RND < 7) > ;
L7.T" " ; Name* (L7.) ; TAB (25) ; Score7. <L7.)

1--'OO NEXT j ~r - Mi-.ftcrcc cpAPP

1310 PRINT' TAB(5);CHR*130;"PRESS SFACE

TO START"

1320 REPEATUNTILGET=32
1330 ENDPROC
1340 DEFPROCde-fchar

1350VDU23,248,24,24,126,90, ^4,I - -
o-?; ^749 24 24,28,26,24,124,68,6 , j

4*"o4^T.o , 24,24,28,22,24,23,251,24,2.6,126 ,
88;24 ; 60 :38,96,23,252,24,88,1^26 . ^6,24,60
1 OO 6 23,253,24,24,56,88,24,6-:i, -•4,96 , —

’ t 30 34,24,56,104,24

«^w^^*i*^**1*^^9**’*^*'*J**^ " " /-vir^er ^CTCT ^

1360VDU23,255,255,255,255 ,
crcT '"‘ss '’^3 34 7 129,66,36,24,24 , •_:*6,66,1-4- 1

o3346:o:cM5l 24 ;,150,148,151,0,23,245,

o': CM 74,170,234,170,174,0,23,244,0 0 , O O
, ;o, 60,255,255,23,243,60,126,255,255, .....

’1370 00023,242,24,24,126,24,60,126,36,1
02

1380 ENDPROC

1390 DEFPROCtitlepage

!410 FaRM=1T02:PR INTTAB(7,M);CHR*141;CH
R$130;"MINEFIELD INSTRUCTIONS":NEX T

1420 PRINTTAB(1,4)"The object o+ this g

ame is to move your"; r • h +tt

1430 F’RINT"man through the mine+ield t

'•; CHRt 130; " ' HOME ' . " 4- .i i =

1440 pRlNT"However you can t actual!/

0 0 t h e (Ti i n e s ” 5

1450 PRINT"anc) the only indication you
have of where a mine is, is given by

your'mine detector. This tells you how
manv mines are immediatly next to volu
1460 PRINT''' Before the game starts you
are" given a brief look at the 1®'/°'-'^
the mines and there is a help button
which flashesthe layout on the screen to
r a short period, you get one of thos

0 per sheet"

1470 PR I NT "and it costs you twenty pom

1480 PRINT'" When you start to get good
i 0 after the third sheet you are giv
0 n’two damsels in distress which y

ou can rescuefor an extra 50 points each

1490 PROGspace

1510 FQRM=1T02: PR I NTTAB (7 , M) ; 5

;CHR*134;
;CHR*134!

R* 130; " MINEFI ELD I NSTRUCT IONS
j- 520 PR I NT ' TAB (5) ; CHR* 134; "I
X - RIGHT"

PRINT TAB(5)

DOWN"

PRINT'TAB(5)

PROCspace
ENDPROC
DEFPRQCspace
PRINT'tab(8)

CHR*137;"TO CONTINUE'

1590 REPE ATUN TILGET =3;

1600 ENDPR(TC

4 < i

1 ':

60

NEXT
~ LEFT"TA

UP"TAB(2

HELP "

PRESS " ; CHR-T136; " SPACE

980 PROCmines

) CHPitlL tTd / f V ; PR I NTTAB (6,16

) Cl IR*.4.; TAB (14,16) ; CHR*74'7 ■ VDU7
1000 ENDPROC
1010 DEFPROCmines

V FORM7.=OTOLEV7.: X7.=RND ( 18) : Y

/.-RND (24) +4: PR I NTTAB ( X7., Y7.) ; CHR*244;NEX T

5 ■■TIME=0: REPEAT UNTIL T
IME>luu:VDU19,2,2:0:

1040 ENDPROC

1050 DEFPROCinit

1060 DIMName*(10) ,Score 7 .( 10 )

1070 F0RL7.= 1T010

1080 Name*(L7.)="BIG K" : ScoreX (L7.) =<
1090 NEXT
1100 *FX10,10

1 , 1 , 1 .tflU

1120 ENDPROC
1130 DEFPROCcheckhigh
1140 VDU22,7
1 150 C7.=0: REPEAT
1160 C7.=C7.+ 1

I 1 70 LINT ILScore7.>Sc:oreX (C 7 .) 0RrX'»9

I ISO IFC7.>9THENENDPR0C

1190 PR INT"YOU'RE IN THE HIGH SCORE

TAB

LT

*FX15,1

INPUT"YOUR NAME PLEASE", Name*
Name*=LEFT*(Name*,15)

F 0RL7.=9 I UC7.STEP-1: Score7. (L7.) =Score
I) : Nam0:$: (L/1) =Nam0-^: (L7.--1) : NEXT

;.0

other areas: In no particular
order: Wrigleys chewing
gum, Playboy magazine and
McDonalds all began life
here. It is still the centre of
the arcade video game man¬
ufacturing industry, a logical
progression from the time
when pinball machines were
made (but banned from play)
in the city.

Now a new sound hums
from the town — the sound
of electronic bleeps and
bloops as microcircuits per¬
form billions of functions in
the half-blink of an eye. Each
summer for the last six years
the people who make the cir¬
cuits hum gather together to
show an astonished world
what miracles they will be
able to buy within the next
few months. Not just com¬
puters but a whole array of

D ATELINE: CHICAGO*
MY FEET are sore.
Twenty-four hours
ago 1 wasn't sure I
had any feet left. Just two
legacies of checking out the
second largest computer
show in the world — the
Summer Consumer Elec¬
tronics Show (the Winter CES
held in Las Vegas is, I am told,
a bit bigger).

They used to call this place
The Windy City', not for the
obvious reason, but because
the politicians tended to talk
at length about many use¬
less things. There also used
to be gangsters around the
place a few decades ago.
Now the only gangsters
you'll see wear business suits
and run restaurants,

Chicago can also claim a
number of dubious 'firsts' in

And what was RICHARD BURTON
doing in Chicago in the first place?
Why, checking out the mammoth
Summer Consumer Electronics Show
— when all that's new (and little that's
not-so-new) camps out in McCormick
Place for five days of computerfest.
Here's his report.

BIG K IN CHICAGO

electronic products from
radios, TV and video to tele¬
phones and satellite earth
stations.

Last year the undoubted
scene-stealer was Coleco's
new Adam Computer
System, Oh paper it looked
too good to be true (and
recent events seem to have
proved this) but it was just
the sort of Big Launch that
the CES has made its repu¬
tation on. Would this year
hold any more startling rev¬
elations?

On the surface it seems
not. Of the major computer
manufacturers only Atari and
Commodore had new wares
to announce.

Atari surprised critics and
supporters alike by launch¬
ing yet another video game
system (their third), the 7800

ProSystem, Starting out as
purely a video game console
that can accept nearly the
entire range of VCS/2600
carts (as welt as the new
range of 7800 games), the
7800 ProSystem can be
expanded Into a low-end
'beginner's' computer with
the addition of a compatible
keyboard. This operates with
4K of RAM, expandable to
20K and is said to have “word
processing and BASIC capa¬
bilities''. The 7800 appears in
the U.S. in July with a price
tag of around $150 and one
game cart included. Later
models will come with the
Pole Position II video game
built in. And yes, it will be
coming to Britain some time
before the end of the year —
at least that's what they're
saying now.

Digitalised
imaging fea¬
tures strongly
in IMAGIC's
new titles
Another Bow
and The Time
Machine; for
IBM pc and pc
jr., Apple II
range, CBM
64, and Atari.

COMMODORE'S new top-of-the-small-
range Plus Four. Nothing to do with golf
— it's aimed at the small business user.

dow' facility, 128 colours, 320
X 200 pixel screen resolution,

2 tone generators and more.
The Plus 4 is compatible with
the new Commodore 16 but
not with the Commodore 64.

As far as software goes it
was very much Commo¬
dore's show, with the world,
its wife and its 12-year-old
whizz-brat turning to soft¬
ware for the CBM 64. Pretty
much the only video game
system left in the cartridge
software stakes is the Cole-
covision.

Activision, Parker and
Imagic had huge, expensive
stands showing their rapid
move into software for all
major computer systems —
notably the CBM 64.

Parker had Star Wars The
Arcade Game running on
most systems and a new
starring role for its aquatic
megastar Frogger II: Three-
deep.

Zenji, Toy Bizarre and The
Activision Pencil (a graphics
aid) headed a strong line of
new releases from Acti¬
vision. Definite word at last
on the first cassette-based
releases for the Spectrum
from Activision's Interna¬
tional division: Beamrider,
H.E.R.O., Zenji, Space Shut¬
tle, Enduro II, River Raid and
Pitfall It

Activision also openly
declared the interest in the
new MSX system, which was
noticeable at CES only by its
absence. Dark reports of
secret meetings with major
manufacturers during the
show abounded but hardly
any machines could be seen
on display.

Coleco announced boldly
that it was standing behind
its Adam computer and
released a whole slew of new
peripherals for it including a
5y/ disc drive and RS232
interface.

The British flag was waved
proudly at the show by Sin¬
clair Research and Quick-
silva. The former had four
dongled-up QLs on show
(and which four people in
Britain are still waiting for
their machines?) and the lat¬
ter's U.S. operation (some¬
what surprised at the recent
takeover) had a small stand
displaying both its and Vir¬
gin Games' products.

To sum up: Chicago is a
big city and the Consumer
Electronics Show is an
incredibly big show. As of
writing it isn't over for me
just yet. There's more to see
and more to do. Join me
again in the windy city next
issue.

The newly-announced CBM 16.
A replacement for the ageing VIC-20?

Atari had two other tricks
up its corporate sleeve.
MindLink does away with
those messy joysticks and
actually puts your brain to
work! The device consists of
a soft-moulded headband
linked to an infra-red con¬
troller. The headband detects
slight electrical impulses
generated by the muscle
movements In a player's
forehead and sends infra-red
signals to the game console
or home computer which
control the on-screen objects.
Special software will be
needed for MindLink but all
that was on display on Atari's
CES stand was a form of old
favourite. Breakout. As of
writing I've yet to experience
this Orwellian device first
hand but the next issue of
BIG K could contain some

Above:
Against all
expecta¬
tions,
ATARI
launched
the 7800
ProSystem
dedicated
videogame
machine. A
turkey In
the mak¬
ing? Or a
subtle
market
ploy?

ATARI'S Mindlink: still
experimental, it utilises
sensors to test for
encephelographic waves
(brainwaves) and also minute
muscle flexing, translating
these signals into code. A bit
like biofeedback or a polygraph
(lie-detector) machine.

startling results.

Atari also announced their
long-awaited collaboration
with George Lucas' Lucas-
film Computer Division with
two new games: Balt blazer
(a sort of science fiction game
of football) and Rescue on
Fractulasia simulation game
that puts you in the driving
seat of a planet-skimming
craft). The games will be
available in 5200, 7800 and
Home Computer editions
here before the end of the
year.

Commodore finally put an
end to the speculation about
their next home micro. 264
or 364? Neither, actually.
Prepare forthe coming of the
Plus 4. Now before all the
jokes about baggy golfing
trousers start coming, the
Plus 4 is so named because

it has four items of software
built in — the ubiquitous
spreadsheet, word proces¬
sor, database and graphics
package that every business-
orientated micro must have
done these days. Which gives
you an idea of the market the
Plus 4 is being aimed at.
There are no plans for It to
replace the Commodore 64,
That is now seen as the 'flag¬
ship' of the Commodore line,
with the newly announced
Commodore 76 filling in at
the lower end (and surely
replacing the ageing VIC-20)
and the Plus 4 at the top end.

Under all the business stuff
on the Plus 4 is a 64K RAM
(60K available for BASIC pro¬
gramming) micro with a full
travel keyboard. There are 8
reprorammable function
keys, a Help key, screen 'win-

this

PICK OF THE MONTH/BIG K ZEROES IN

AVIATOR

by

ACORNSOFT

W’AcoVnso«

THERE'S A fair number of ^''9^
simulators around now for the
rRC and other smallish micros
^ and for the most part they'd
have trouble
Gmndma making a cup
Let's face it, a straight Ime and a
rectangle with fots °n 't 'sn t

foo? waT prlttV b'l^Ik u°ntn
Acornsoft entered
with characteristic Batt'®
ain panache dumped Aviator in

°Tt's quite something. First time

uplv?as airsick. Then! crashed

a%, which is to be ®’‘P®®^®‘lLe
takes a couple of years to geU
hana of walking, so tiying is
bound to turn up the o^d prob-
lerl^ here and there, but then

SiJtfire^k II, in full rietail- Any-
tWna a real Spitfire can do so
can Vwator. B^rel rolls, loop^

tv^^A^fars^

as the dead ship flops its oeiiy

irs (that's line drawings to you
Sd K but the »tnp.t.nou

Dales in comparison. The ditter

ence between f.ids and

rest is the landscape — fields ana

trees, a river with a
it and even a town called
'eVsrl Acornsville. Points are
Awarded for ^'vinQ under he
bridge or through Acornsvilie.

Double points if y°u're crazy

nr SO they grow wings and

avrs^o-ssrpopu-

'In the early stages the trick is

!;rErrSeC'.bS°e..b;
KS.TbpuS:=rdS4

Aterl bit the fuel starts to run

low butthat'snoproblenv Just

the Spitfire refuels. O"®® Y?'pro-

the hang of it you

bably keep going <9^ ®'Y^fg^e of

game you buy. —

YESjiirr IS n’
A HUN KILLER?

TONY TYLER
compares
Acornsoft's Spit If
to the real thing.

Games AVIATOR
iSkersACOBlISOIT

»SEi».BBOMODJbB

jiorniatscasse^orc^

Price; S14.95 (cassette)
£17.65 (disc)

BatingsKKK

Coiold. Be Better
Could Be Worse
Unsurpassable

KK

KKK

THE SPITFIRE Mk II on which the
Acornsoft Aviator game is based
was by and large the machine
actually in service at the time of
the Battle of Britain. It differed from
the earlier Mk I in having a three-
bladed propeller and as a result
slightly enhanced speed. Its arma¬
ment — here the Acornsoft ver¬
sion does not correspond to the
original — was the famous set of
eight .303 Brownings {not two
wing-mounted cannons — these
only came in with the 1941 MkV).

In reproducing the flying char¬
acteristics of the Spit Acorn have
gone further down the reality road
than any other flight sim known to
Big K — with the honourable
exception of Microsoft's Flight
Simulator for the IBM PC and
clones. In order to keep the mem¬
ory reserves high and avoid the
problem of high-speed con¬
tinuous fills (as the horizon tilts,
so does a new solid map need to
be filled), they have stuck to one
colour and ignored solids alto¬
gether. This reduces the horizon
problem to single line propor¬
tions.

The best thing about Aviator is
the instrumentation. None of your
crummy digital readouts, but
proper dials that can be read at a
glance. Everything has been

thought of — failure to raise the
undercart will hold the speed and
the nose down and make the
machine pitch uncontrollably.
Takeoff speed seems a little high,
and I'm not sure whether a fully-
fuelled Spit unsticks quicker than
an empty one (as it should and
did).

Top speed in level flight of the
original was around 323 mph — in
a dive it was anybody's guess up
to and exceeding 450. So it is here
(nearly), with the entirely realistic
provision that if you pull out too
rapidly your wings fall off. The
same dangers He in wait for all
overenthusiastic aerobats.

At the end of the day flight sim¬
ulators are just that: simulators.
At least half the dangerous man¬
oeuvres your eye alone can warn
you of in Aviator would — in the
real thing — be detected and
avoided by the famous "seat of
the pants" feeling — i.e. if your
stomach doesn't like it, then nei¬
ther will the airframe. But until
Acorn or some other entrepre¬
neurs (probably Torch) conceive a
way of putting you and your Beeb
in a stilt-mounted, hydraulically
operated, oil-smelling, exceed¬
ingly noisy box (with eight .303
Brownings) this will probably
remain the state of the art.

MES"COMPU|

YODELLING

He's certainly getting^round, this Horace char¬
acter. First time around he was feeding his face
in a maze. Now he's off to the Alps for.a spot of
skiing. Where are we going to see him next?
Wallaby hunting Down Under, maybe?

Anyway, back to the-business in hand. Hor¬
ace, before he hits the slope, has to buy his skis.
They're in a hut on the other side of a busy road
and they cost ten dollars — Horace starts off
with forty. If he gets knocked down an ambul-

DEEP SPACE

Frantic interstellar shoot 'em up
distinguished by some superb
large scale cartoon graphics. Ad
Astra, or, To The Stars' is the
dashing motto of the Deep
Space Patrol, and as a new recuit
it's your dubious honour to
patrol the shipping lanes
between the distant Way Sta¬
tions that mark the borderlines
of Terran space. Needless to say
these shipping lanes literally
crawl with hostile Xtros. There's
the Pirate battle cruisers and
their speedy droid scouts to con¬
tend with, the mammoth mine¬
layers of Mongo (or whatever)
and interminable clouds of
lethal space debris to avoid. It's
a good job there's a joysticks
option as my digits just couldn't
take the pace. Space debris pre¬
cedes each wave. Huge cratered
globes spin towards you with
dazzling smoothness. You can
only hold your breath and dodge
as they fly past — only to rocket
straight into the eager maw of
the alien force. The animation
throughout Is superb and I was
particularly impressed by the
mammoth minelayers. (Even if
they caught me every time.) Still
it's almost worth it for the mega¬
blast that ensues. I've yet to
make a Way Station but I'm sure
that when I get there it'll look
grand. Of course such animation
has its price. The action takes
place over a static background
and to sparse musical accom¬
paniment. Still it's cheap for
what you get. Space Cadets
should enlist immediately! —
S.K.

Game: AD ASTRA
Maker: GARGOYLE GAMES
Machine: SPECTRUM 48K
Format: cassette

ance comes and takes him away, but only if he
can pay a ten dollar ambulance fee. Would they
really leave him lying in a pool of blood in the
road if he couldn't pay? (Too true they would.)

Then comes the skiing bit Horace has to be
guided down the Hannekon run avoiding the
flags, trees and any other garbage left lying
around until he gets to the finishing post then
he gets another slope.

One would think a visit to the ski slopes with
Horace would be quite exciting. On the contrary
it's rather dull. All it really means is guiding a
blob around a vast expanse of white trying to
miss things that get in the way. Perhaps the
Dynamic Diggers could find him something
more exciting next time around. —K.A.
Game: HORACE GOES
SKTrUG

Maker: MELBOURNE HOUSE
Machine: COMMODORE 64
Format: cassette
Price: ib5.95
Rating: K

MEAN REDS

A sort of horizontal Pac-Man
dressed up in its own mythol¬
ogy: you're a member of the
great starfaring race of Inter-
galactic Cheese-snufflers,
marooned in a maze beyond the
furthest reaches of space and
time . . . that sort of thing.

BasPcally, you're in a Pac-Man
style labyrinth, gobbling up the
old dots on the ground and
occasionally chancing upon a
special one that allows you a
limited time to gobble up the
Red Meanies that are chasing
you. But whereas in Pac-Man
you're looking down on the
maze, here you peer along its
corridors. Nice for the hurtling
effect as you hit a long stretch.
Horrible when a Red Meanie
suddenly looms, enormous, up
in front of you. As you can't tell
where you're going (and pro-

bably won't even have a clue
until you've slogged away at it
for a couple of months) it's
bloody difficult either to chase
said red things or even deduce
where they are in relation to you
when you hear the warning
beep that indicates a hostile
prescence nearby. Oh yeah,
there are also things called Blue
Loonies that also loom up, set
off the alarm etc, but they're
perfectly harmless and are pre¬
sumably only there to give the
novice a nasty turn.

In all, a novel variation on a
classic theme, but not quite
novel enough to make it a big
success. — D.R.

Game: RED MEANIES
Maker: SALAMANDER
Machine: DRAGON 32
Format: cassette
Price: ^7.95
Rating: KK

Reviewers

STEVE KEATON
NICKY XIKLUNA
JSJVOR SPALL
KIM ALOIS
tony TYLER

RICHARD BURTON

RICHARD COOK

TROMS
[jy MEET
* “ MORT

Gripes! This is absolutely bad,
man. Imagine Tron without
effects. Tom without Jerry and
Gridrunner without grids.
Imagine being sentenced to life
in an arena of relentless peril,
illuminated only by the flames
from a central inferno and the
flash of laser fire. Imagine heavy
duty warfare, imagine there's
no people ... About the screen
sparkle The Bits. With your
trusty Bitsearcher (fashioned
after the battle cruiser from
Tron, hence the awkward title)
you must hoover 'em up one by
one and deposit them into the
central furnace. Sharing the
arena are the Bytesheets, great
wails of noise that grind up and
down ttie screen, and around
the edge skate the deadly
Nibbles who pump poisonous
pixels stage centre. All must be
avoided. As you move through
the screens the Bytesheets
become more furious and the
Pixel shower more intense. Its a
visual nightmare that requires
fearsome coordination. A
simple idea true enough, but the
game just won't quit. Like I said:
It's bad. S.K.

Game: TROM
Maker: DKTRONICS
Machine: SPECTRUM 48K
Format: cassette
Price: ^5.95
^ting:KKK

PROGRAMMER ON THiE RUN

This is another variation on the
old sliding block game, but with
a sting in the tail. You know the
kind of thing, shove rocks around
the screen trying to flatten
beasties. Trouble is if you miss
the beasty the rock bounces off
the first thing it comes across
and gives you a nasty slap in the
gob. Not a pretty sight. Course
you can dodge out of the way.

Confused? Let uncle explain.
The year is 2003, the setting the
aftermath of a nuclear holo¬
caust in a maze of rocks, where
the sole survivors are Krackats
(who dreams up these names?)
These little nasties have devel¬
oped a taste for human flesh
(flesh'n'chips?), so the idea is to

give them a good pounding with
a rock. But I like I said, watch out
for the rebound, it's a killer.

Then there's the other screens.
The first is fairly straightfor¬
ward, sort pi what you see is
what you get. But the second
and third are something else.
Number two is the 'Mayfield'
where the whole screen is filled
with rocks. You have to guess
which ones are real. Then come
the hidden rocks. Finding a way
around a maze you can't find
presents certain problems. Need
I elaborate?

Rubble Trouble is good, pro¬
bably the best I've seen for the
BBC. Well worth an Investment.
— K.A.

Bating: KK

TURBOCHARGE
YOUR SPECTRUM

Outperforms any Spectrum interface

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F

i

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The unique Turbo interface from Ram gives you all these
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for standard joysticks, PLUS full expansion bus at rear.

Compatible with Kempston and Protek protocols.

❖ Works with latest Quickshot Mk II auto rapid-fire joysticks!

❖ Choice of Rom cartridge or tape cassette software.

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Or call our credit card hot line on 02514 25252. (Access and
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Ram Electronics (Reet) Ltd, 106 Reet Road, Reet Hampshire
GU138PA

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Please send me;

_Spectrum Turbo lnterfece(s) at £22.95

-I- £1 p-i-p (overseas orders £3 p-i-p)

_Quickshot II Joysticks) at £9.95

(Only when purchased with Turbo-normally £12.95 -(-£1 p-fp)

I enclose cheque/postal order or charge my AccessA/isa for £_

❖ Full one year guarantee.

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To: Ram Electronics (Fleet) Ltd, 106 Fleet Road, Fleet, Hampshire GU13 8PA.

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Trade and export enquiries welcome.

lOTHLORIEN ^

COMMODORE64 • SPECTRUM • BBC • ORIC • DRAGON ‘TANDY

IF YOU THINK YOU'VE GOT
THE BETTER OF YOUR COMPUTER,
YOU'D BETTER THINK AGAIN....

We all enjoy a good action ga^e on our home computers, but after a while doesn't chasing,the alien
across a screen wear a little thin? That's the time to take on the superior challenge of a Warmaster strategy game
plenty of action, plenty to think about, and plenty of titles to suit every taste.

Take on Warmaster and really,put your home computer through its paces.

CONFRONTATION

Build-on game that offers a basic format
for any modern, non-nuclear conflict.
Contains a modern European scenario
with facility to create others of your
choice using air and land forces.
Two-player game.

Spectrum £7.95

BBC-B ^ £7.95

RED BARON

Offers the excitement of arcade action
but requires the tactical thought of war
games. Pit your biplane against one or
two of the Kaiser's aces In this aerial
combat game.

Spectrum 48K £5.95

PARAS

Dramatic all-graphics campaign.

Your hand-picked force has dropped
behind enemy lines to capture a strategic
river crossing. Two versions of the game
with ten levels of play.

BBC-B £6.95

Spectrum 48K £5.95

Oric 1 48K (coming soon) £6.95

DREADNOUGHTS

Suspense-filled high seas drama as the
pride of the German Grand Fleet is locked
in battle with the Royal Navy.

Two-player game.

Spectrum 48K £5.95

JOHNNY REB

There's still plenty of fight left in the
Confederate South as each side selects
forces to manoeuvre on a full-graphics
battlefield. Play against the computer or
challenge a friend.

Spectrum 48K
Oric 1 48K
BBC-B

Dragon 32/Tandy Colour 32K
Commodore 64 (coming soon)

£5.50

£6.95

£6.95

£6.95

£6.95

Available from John Menzies, Lightning Dealers and better
software shops or dip the coupon for fast delivery.

F'

Please send me (tick box)

Confrontation

BAmEZONEZOOO

Futuristic wargame.
Your tanks, missile
launchers, infantry etc.
have to destroy an all
powerful computer-
controlled battle machine.
Can you save Planet Earth?
BBC-B £6.95

Red Baron
Paras

Spectrum 48K
BBC-B

Spectrum 48K
BBC-B
Spectrum 48K
Oric 1 48K (coming soon)

£7.95

£7.95

£5.95

£6.95

£5.95

£6.95

□

□

□

□

□

□

Johnny Reb Spectrum 48K
Oric 1 48K
BBC-B

Dragon 32/Tandy
Colour 32K

Commodore 64 (coming soon)
Dreadnoughts Spectrum 48K
Battlezone 2000 BBC-B

£5.50

£6.95

£6.95

n I

£6.95

£6.95

£5.95

£6.95

□

□

□

□

Free colour catalogue listing all Lothlorien games □

1 enclose a cheque/P.O. for £_made payable to M C Lothlorien.

Please debit my Access No-/_/_/_Signed-

Name-

Address-

Send to: M C Lothlorien, Dept.
Poynton, Cheshire SKI 2 lAE.
Tel: Poynton (0625) 876642.

, 56a Park Lane,

VIDEO GAMES "COMPUTER GAM

flTHRQM RTC 1 , e

'Your computer is revolting' I was informed by the instructions, iwa?
offended. Dog-ends apart, it seemed clean enough. Reading on, things
became clearer. It seems that there's a massive power struggle going on
inside the computer. The CPU has been abusing its position of power and
the lesser components are rebelling, they come steaming down the circuit
tracks with malicious intent. You move a fire pointer from pin to pin giving
the unruly components the old one-two before they get too close. If they
reach the chip it's Zapsville. As time goes by word gets round that there's
a shoot-out at the O.K. 6502. You get bombarded by more and taster
components and the going gets pretty tough. In later pages the circuit
tracks form more complicated shapes and you've got your work cut out
just trying to see where they come from.

Transistors Revenge is fast and furious. Nice, smooth presentation and
enough action to keep you permanently on yourtoes. If you imagine Space
Invaders tied in a few knots and then shoved into a tumble drier you'll
have a pretty fair idea of what's going on. — K.A.

air TRAFFIC CONTROL

0 screen. (I

to conquer thffc

iijt I won t. Afi3 .)

-3 sudden

Talktr^ on this

SI-.'iSd.Tn,"".

9®^®' .,rc. 14 levels of p'a^

s^heroe!

square on^ trying!

, grammrng. —

^P^'^PaSg 'en to
jssy. r^nriH ,y^. Qp Con-

lau"*

ad:-cui^V'a£^'ewtovU’s
ben there s Qj^y HaM
Roxie' c'oema- a ^ ^

eplete with statu

jourse, 3" gviite gaitil a

ili:s cairn m Cutes __
warning Time

rSfSrifS'andonce

i-here s g® ®ty the

store. First to

fooihardy wfrom

i attack, 3 k past them at

datory atta^ th^ear. Then,

S'-r3k;ea

acttss the
you I •.—

there are
attse^ t. -

CTTYATTAK

;£S«obo»

rt: cassette
£6.95

iBnnfl Hd

Roger, Golf Zulu
Turn left...er...

First thing that happens is you
crash a lot of aircraft and kill a lot
of people. Sounds good, huh?
Well all you aspiring homicidal
maniacs out there better think
again. The object of the exercise
is to land the aircraft safely and
NOT kill the people. Of course if
you've got a real vicious streak
you can have great fun directing
all the traffic to the middle of the
screen then sit back and watch
the resulting carnage. That's if
you can get the hang of it first.
Believe me, it ain't easy.

Heathrow is a simulator. Not a
flight simulator, but an air traffic
control simulator. First there's
the instructions to plough
through. Complicated? Imagine
a four year old learning machine
code.

The game takes you through
seven levels, from total none-
brain air traffic controller to super
ultra zippo air traffic controller,
with a demonstration some¬
where in the middle. When you
start getting competent (maybe
three years from now) you can
start covering things like Vortex
Spacing (Eh?), and emergency
procedures, this is a faithful sim¬
ulation of the problems facing
an air traffic controller and it
would come as no surprise to
learn that there's a room full of
nervous wrecks somewhere in
Heathrow with a label on the
door, 'Ex-air traffic controllers'.
— K.A.

HfKBNCBMSHIMTS

tnRE nni nnn

fireball

FURIOSO

foolishness

Game: HEATHROW AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL
Maker: HEWSON
CONSULTANTS
Machine: BBC MODEL B,
ELECTRON, SPECTRUM 48K
Format: cassette
Price: £7.95
Rating: KK

PUTER GAMfJ^

KKK

CoiJld. Be
Could Be Worse
Unsurpassable

CHIPS FOR
EVERYTHING

Two Strategy games from th
same stable, one drearily math
ematical, one moderately exci
ing. The 64 isn't a very good
micro for strategic pastimes —
how to put the graphic capabili¬
ties to use? — but Red Alert at
least uses what it can in pictorial
terms.

One to four users can tussle to
raise capital, hire underworld
stooges, evade police snoopers
and gather up useful trifles like
flamethrowers for, eventually, an
assault on a missile base (a
rocket is launched as the glo¬
rious climax of the affair). In fact,
the nub of the game is raising
loot, done mostly at a casino fruit
machine or a perverted card table
which the computer usually wins
at. The rest Is played out like a
series of episodes from low
budget espionage movies: mys¬
terious assignations at Clapham
Junction, trips to Moscow (huh?)
and harrassment by the feds
which results in many a bundle
of secret papers disappearing
down a lavatory bowl. A cynical
assessment would be 'gambling
game with knobs on', but it's
engaging enough in a modest
way.

Wheeler Dealer is an unfor¬
tunate stiff from screen one. Up
to 16 can play (when was the last
time you had 16 crowded round
your micro?) at a pointless scen¬
ario where gearboxes, tyres,
engines, monopolies, bank bal¬
ances, industry troubles and
general inertia jostle politely for
attention. The graphics are of
ZX81 standard, the 'action'
wouldn't leave a tortoise breath¬
less and the most pressing issue
isn't staying in business, it's
staying awake. Avoid. — R.C.

Game: WHEELER DEALER
Maker: MR CHIP
Machine: COimODORE 64
Format: cassette
Price: ^5.50
Bating: None

Game: RED ALERT
Maker: MR CHIP
Machine: COMMODORE 64
Format: cassette
Price: Jb5.50
Bating: K

HIM TOOK HIM CHANCES
MEK HIM MONEY — SEEN?

They're a witty lot. Task Set —
this one is subtitled 'Super Digi¬
tal Mix'. I couldn't recognise the
tunes Rankin' Rodney skanks
around the screen to but it's a
merry enough accompaniment
to his misadventures. A joystick
pilots him from the centre of each
of 20 screen, onto multicoloured
conveyor belts and from there
into four sectors which each
house a particular instrument (a
change in the tune comes when
Rodney picks one of them up).
Once he's got all four back to the
centre — having dodged lethal
: crotchets and patches of discord
I — it's on to the next screen.

Personalty, my peepers were

feeling frazzled after 20 minutes:
the key to hopping the moving
belts is getting on to the right
colour dots, and the display Is
ablaze with fluorescence. RR isn't
a very clear piece of animation
and sometimes the fellow is
almost Invisible — besides which
the controls doa't seem too
responsive in shifting him. Never
got beyond the first few screens
so I can't tell if there's any drastic
change later on, though 1 will say
that this is much harder than-
TS's other newie. Super
line. Very lively, but 1 & I will
have to practice like roots man
to be top dread, seen? — R.C.

76 JELLY TOTS LED THE BIG PARADE

In the first game I got three lives. The second very generously
coughed up seven without giving any real indication of why.
Such minor inconsistencies aside the game was good. Don't
think — just shoot: fast and from the hip. Move slower than a
cat with its tail on fire and you're dead. Don't even worry about
where, you 'll hit something.

The first screen is a variation onSpace Invaders. Weird but
definitely menacing objects with an uncanny resemblance to
Jelly Tots parade across the top of the screen dropping bombs.
A 'Robo Crab' patrols the bottom half of the screen. When
Guardian Pests start to form a pincer movement from the side
desperation turns to sheer panic.

Clear screen one and the scene changes. An egg wanders
around the screen with four Robo Crabs circling it. You need five
consecutive hits on the egg without being hit by a stun bomb.
Not easy. Just when you're getting a taste for blood, probably
green, you notice that your score is falling fast. Panic rises pro¬
portionally.

Odyssey seems to be a cassette full of just about every alien¬
zapping game known to man and alien alike, there are five
screens, each one vastly different from the rest. I must confess
to being confused about how many Ivies I had. Sometimes it
was three and in other games I counted as many as seven, but
in spite of this it definitely works. I only hope I can explain away
all these dead aliens to the cleaners. — K. A.

Game: ODYSSEY
Maker: K-TEL
Machine: COMMODORE 64

Fbrmat: cassette
Price: £6.95
Batiiig:KK

NICK THE FRUIT. A VOID THE SPARROW.

Honesty is the best policy, or that's what they
teach in the Boy Scouts. Fruity Freddy wasn't in
the Boy Scouts. A quick butchers overthe fence
forthe all clear and it's straight into Mr Meano's
garden after the fruit. We all know that scrump¬
ing is a risky business but Mr Meano's garden
is like cuddling sharks. First of all there's the
killer bees swarming out of the bee-hive, then
the Crazy Crimson Catapillar zips across the
garden trying to make dead Freddies. Tread on
a seed before it's fully grown and Mr Meano
storms out of his house throwing mega-wob-
blies fit to bust.

Then there's the sparrow. Since there's no
way to be discreet about this let's be blunt. It
dumps on Freddy. Toyou and I asparrowdump
means a mild case of embarrassment and an
urgent need of a handkerchief, but as far as
Freddy's concerned it might as well be an ele¬
phant. He staggers about in a daze and then
drops dead.

All in all Freddy does a lot of dying. It's a
challenging game and once you get the hang
of it it'sgreatfun. —K.A.

IVIDEO GAMES o COMPUTER G.

= Could Be Better\ ^
= Could Be Worse I

So there was I sailing the high
seasr splicing the odd main^
brace and shivering a timber
here and there, when up walks
Long John Silver with a real
neato plan with a pretty heavy
cash return.

This is a fairly standard '
adventure game but what gives
it a good position in the Adven¬
ture Game Hall of Fame is its wit
and a clever use of sound. The
cassette loading is accom¬
panied by a sea shanty which is
retained for later use in the
game. As you approach the sea¬
shore you hear the sound o f surf
and seagulls (they really do
sound like seagulls}. Limited but
clever use is made of the Mode
7 graphics and the description
of locations is interesting. A
major frustration with some
adventure games is the same old
response when you pick up an
object or give the computer an
instruction it can't understand.
Not with Flint's Gold. It has a
library of interesting responses.

While it couldn't hold a place
with the world's adventure clas¬
sics, it could well find a secure
position in the games cupboard.
— K.A.

GametraETSGOIiD
Maker; MIC5R0GRAPH
Machine; BBC MODEL B
Format; cassetbe/disc
Price: &6.9d (cassette)
^,95 (disc)

Bating: KK

But Where
is Wayne
Fontana?

. KKK = Unsurpassable

Adventure fan Paul Styles
wrote this puzzler with the
Quill, and Gilsoft were so
impressed that they mar¬
keted it! Being a 'fan' rather
than a 'professional' author,
perhaps Paul has kept his
tongue firmly planted in his
cheek as this adventure's
descriptions and responses
show a splendid sense of
humour.

It all started in the office
where I spend my "ordinary
humdrum existence", fur¬
nished with just a tele¬
phone, a desk diary and
(Aha!) a quill pen. Suddenly
the phone rang! I answered
the insistent purr to a listing
voice which declared (a la
Max Boyce) "Croeso y
Cymru". The room span, my
world vanished . . . and I
recovered consciousness
inside a closed cell in the
huge complex of Mindben-
der. Alone, unarmed, I had to
seek out and destroy the ter¬
rible threat.

Paul has ignored some of
the Quill's visual presenta¬
tion (viz. highlighted direc¬
tions and objects) in favour
of the plainer Artic-style, and
made singular but effective
use of sound.

Not the most difficult of
adventures so far, but an
excellent introduction for
novice adventurers: even
seasoned veterans should
find enough to keep them
entertained. Anyway, I must
get back to the kitchens and
that food . .. — T.S.

Game: MINDBEMDER
Maker: GILSOFr
Machine: SPECTRUM 48K
Format: cassette
Price: ^£>5.95
Bating: KK

you drop and break

TGIVE RUN

You can't have your sealegs yet shipmat€
I don't tolloui your dritt.

7DRINK RUM

The world spins and you drop and break
t he bo 111e.

?GET GLASS
No can do.

?S

You a re on t he NORTH-SOUTH Je t t y.To the
UEST is a gangplank up to a black ship.
Evil looking sailors watch from the Gun
po r t s .

7S

You are on the NORTH-SOUTH Jetty with
sea on both sides.

7S

You are in the street leading EAST and
UEST.The entrance to the Jetty is NORTH

You are in the street.To the EAST is the
entrance to a shop. The road leads UEST
and SOUTH.

f?^ttered Ann

tortuous travel

'foUvo^t] an and

Ir goodshoZ . ^ome

^ great ^hat?

andfh

th^centr2f

't/s at ^

-N.x'^Pout. Go tt%

pSp"-

Quite, Henderson
— the spare wheel!

EPYX ARE deservedly well-known in the US for a series
of superb action adventures and strategy games, mainly
targeted on Apple and Atari to date. Pit Stop represents
their plunge into Coleco-land.

If they hope to compete with Coleco's own Turbo Driver
— let alone the peerless and as yet unsurpassed Pole
Position — they've got another think coming. The actual
race-car sequences are less detailed and less convincing,
while the Pit Stop routine — on which Epyx have pinned
their hopes in a desire to find a new lick — rapidly grows
tedious. You can win or lose a race in the pits, sure; you
can also blow it with an ill-judged ROM that adds nothing
to what already exists on the market. Coleco and Atari
can sleep tight. — T.T.

Game: PIT STOP Format: ROM

Maker: EPYX Price: &29 (approx)

Machine; COLECOVISION Bating: K

MES ° COMPUTER GAMES ° VIDEO GAMES ° COMPl

Threesome

Back to the control seats boys
— it's time to save the universe
again. This time it's Triads and
they are MEAN. Swooping in
from the distance blazing death
they grow larger and more mem
acing until they nearly fill the
screen.

Once they're mopped up
there's an asteroid storm to
contend with. This has to be
cleared before the transport fleet
can pass through to its destina¬
tion planet. Success is rewarded
with promotion through the
ranks, failure means a visit to
that Great Space Station in the
sky.

After a brief respite, barely
enough time to grab a cup of
synthi-caf, another fleet of Triads
has to be dealt with.

The great thing about this
game is the added features.
Turning off the sound. Freeze
Game are all there, plus several
others. Hiked the option of play¬
ing against more than one
player, it saved a multitude of
family arguments. But for real
kicks try turning off the gun
sights. — K.A.

Game: TRIAD
Maker: LIVE WIRE
Machine: COMMODORE 64
Format: cassette
Price: ^8.95

Microdeal are a Cornish com¬
pany rightly famed for carefully
researching their market.
Research told them that their
Space Shuttle game, at that time
already out in BBC and Dragon
versions, could stand a little
spreading across the board;
which is why it now appears on
Atari.

In a sense the game's designer
has been handicapped by a pra¬
iseworthy desire to effect a gen¬
uine simulation. This means the
velocity parameters, for
example, are necessarily inflex¬
ible. Perception of these from the
pilot's point of view (the p.o.v.
you get) is necessarily slow. So
even the smoothest code
wouldn't be able to cope with
the problems posed by lack of
high-enough resolution: even
single pixel movement, if slowed
down enough, can and will be
jerky.

That said, instruments faith¬
fully record your progress; and
through the window you see
stars, floating satellites, etc —
but all the same a bit of showbiz

would have been welcome. In a
word (and this is an odd criti¬
cism to make of a sim), too much
data fidelity and not enough
pizazz.

Space Shuttle comes in the
usual Microdeal cryogenic pack¬
ing with the naff artwork. Two
versions — 16K first and then a
32K version — follow each other.

which is thoughtful considering
Ataris also break down along
these very lines. Fans of faithful¬
ness will go for it; me, I found it
a little on the dull side — but
then, I imagine the real things
must have its moments of ennui
also. — T.T.

Game: SPACE SHUTTLE
Maker: ludlCRODEAL
Machine: ATARI 400/800XL
Format: cassette
Price: &8.00
Rating: K

Eating: KK

the KLARTZ council

HIS IS an adventure game
or the novice .and expen-
.nced alike. Being a multi-
iSventure' you donotexpe-

fence the mind-numbing

problem of coming to a dead
halt at your first

insurmountable obstacle.

Merely leap into your handy
T^me Capsule and zoom off
elsewhere. There are five
'isewheres' ^9'
off to so there is plenty to ao

°"lnitiatfy^this is a oa^ppmg

ind maze-solving task wh^h

vill teach the beginner sonne
mportant „^c

adventuring. Response i
□uite good and the vocabu-

K ad^uate. Just when you

think everything seems

sUaightforwardthistext-oiMy

adventure throws up some

?eal challenges. IdentiWmg

and collecting objects pres¬
ent few problems (there are
some random elements
which require time-wasting
^erseverence) but entering
ocations can

The program can be unfor

Giving to the unwary- Having

^ot stuck in a shaft where.t

is too dark to see and move

rd lost the program. To m®ke
a blunder and then have t
reload does not
'adventurous play, by an

means kill me off hot having
to reload the whole game..

%lUn all, definitely a.game

to return to and try again an^d

?rpp5'“buf t°hii

seem sioppy uottpr
adventure is much better

?han many. There is a lasting

mpr^slionthatithashidden

will someone tell
SeCwVcmgPtali^ftso
that lean see them?-T.S.

Game: KLABTZ ^ THE DARK

Machine: DRAGON 32
Format: cassette
Price: ^9.95

Bating: KK

Commodore 64 / ^\
& BBC ‘Model B’l

NOW YOU CAN

^ O wi a JOIN IN THE FUN
OF KEVIN TOMS’ No. 1 Football Game

FOOTBALL MANAGER

Action from the game (CBM 64)

‘The Highlight sequences are pure
magic. And then you have to sit on
the sidelines and sweat it out! Com¬
pletely fantastic. I want one!’

Quote by Charlie Nicholas
Reprinted from Big K

Prices: BBC Model B £7.95

Commodore 64 £7.95

Spectrum 48K £6.95

ZX81 16K £5.95

(N.B. 3D GRAPHICS ARE NOT
INCLUDED IN THE ZX81 VERSION)
Overseas orders add £1.50 _

Strategy Game of the Year, 1983

(Nominated)

Golden Joystick Awards

To order by mail (p&p free) send
cheques or postal order to:

Football Mana ger

Designed by Kevin Toms

This outstanding game of
skill and strategy is
now widely available
and you can join the
many thousands of
satisfied customers
who have purchased
the game.

Some of the features of the game:

• Matches in 3D graphics • Transfer
market • Promotion and relegation

• F.A. Cup matches • Injury problems

• Full league tables • Four Divisions

• Pick your own team for each match

• As many seasons as you like
Managerial rating • 7 skill levels

^ • Save game facility

^dictike

available from computer software stockists
nati onwid e including selected branches of

and

Addictive Games

' 7A RICHMONDHILL,BOURNEMOUTH BH2 6HE

VIDEO GAMES "COMPUTER G

1:

ALL THAT
GLITTERS
IS GOLD!

/ collapsed upon Zalaga
parched and rigid. Severely
depleted after hours of fruit¬
less bafflement at the keys
of Derek Brewster's mega¬
headache Codename Mat
(for the Spectrum from
Micromega), I could barely
muster the enthusiasm to
breathe. The end, I felt sure,
was both near and growing
steadily impatient.

Then I loaded Zalaga ...
and suddenly all was right
with the world again. It was
as if a litre ofeasy-scoop had
been crammed down my
shorts. My digits were danc¬
ing.

Zalaga, it transpires, is the
perfect antidote to hyper
complex, smart-ass super
progs. It's that antithesis of
the current vogue: Galaxi-
ans. Not any old Galaxians
— but the BEST Galaxians.
The thing is magic! Fero¬
ciously difficult, refreshingly
accessible, beautifully drawn
and thoroughly addictive.
Wave after wave of waltzing
war birds whizz toward you
and there's no ineffectual
pondering, no consternation
at the keys. You just let those
suckers fly. — S.K.

Game: ZALAGA
Maker: AuARDVAEK
SOFTWARE

Machine: BBC B
Format: cassette
Price: &6.90
Rating: KKK

HAVE A STAB AT THIS...

Take a trip back to the good
old days when men were
men and duels were fought
in lonely valleys at the crack
of dawn. The Holy Deutscrit-
ter Order of Teutonic Knights
(say that fast three times)
was based in Alsace in the
twelfth century. They fol¬
lowed a strict code of honour
— know the Lord's Prayer,
have no personal posses¬
sions, avoid taking women
etc. Sounds like the life of
Reilly. Anyway, it seems that
these noble men used to set¬
tle their differences by trun¬
dling off to a valley at
daybreak and sticking
swords into each other.

It's a two player game with

URNING

VOUR

POINTS

r'J"'"'' H 32 .«•» K.. I

£ « 7 I

Danger Chamber of Pasha in search o ^ various

the acid ‘..-nnvwance of screens i» a oat

smonsJf the meagre 'tme^ The <mmbined

,g the sheer di^culty tn^y ^ a “'"efy'J® only once

poilt exptorer.Th urns defeated me eve where 1 vvas

ssaultofboth b end. Something

‘ ^^f?®®yJovvtb«taswiftendh^^^ illustrated

^21ens to Harrison Fordl Bea« ^

two swordsmen who can be
made to move around the
valley and prod each other
with swords. With the
exception of the odd rather
knock-kneed stance they look
passably realistic. Control is
available from either key¬
board or joystick. Unless
you've got rubber fingers use
the joystick. — K.A.

Game: SWORD MASTER
Maker: ACORN USER
Machine; BBC MODEL B
Format: cassette/disc
Price: ^7.95 cassette/^ 10.95
disc

Bating: KK

DRAGON
WORDS

Dragon users: are you cheesed off with your low I
density screen displays and prehistoric graphics |
facilities? Then listen up, as this useful multi-fea¬
tured utility is a must for all those wishing to scrag I
their micro's gruesome text display. With a new user I
definable 224charactersetfeaturing real lowercase, [
slimline cursor, slashed zeros (gasp) and a host of I
handy graphics characters this enhancer offers I
instant relief for frustrated hackers. It can be used in I
Basicand Machine Language programswith relative |
I ease and offers up real options for eager authors.

I The ability to produce text and hi-res graphics 11
I found particularly exciting. Some visually exciting
] Dragon adventures may well be on the cards at last!

I Word processing also becomes a lot more feasible.

I Its potential'is huge. Although I have some doubts
I aboutthe accompanying manual (too lightweight by
I half!) the demo program and help screen feature
I make the thing refreshingly accessible. Serious
I users will welcome it with open arms and novices
I mightwellbesurprisedwhentheygettofisharound |
I in it.-S.K.

I Game: RAINBOW WRITER
SCREEN ENHANCER
I Maker: MICRODEAL
Machine: DRAGON 32/64
I Format: cassette
Price: ibI9.95
Bating: KKK

K

KK

= Could Be Better f
= Could Be Worse
— Unsurpassable

CAN'T DO
THAT, GUV

Task Set have a brilliant slogan
— The Bug Stops Here! — but
the games I've seen from them
so far don't quite match up to
the suggested sharpness. Super
Pipelines is a kind of external¬
ised maze game: you control a
burly overalled bloke who's a
pipeline foreman (he marches
onscreen to the strains of Laurel
& Hardy's cuckoo song — not
something to inspire confi¬
dence, metfiinks) and he trots
genially around a serpentine pipe
structure doggedly followed by
one of his diminutive repairmen.

As oil courses through the
pipe, nasties resembling car¬
mine wood I ice beetle up a lad¬
der and pursue your men around
the pipe, while a sinister hombre
called the Ladderman sneaks up
the same route and tries to plug
the line. You blast them with an
inexhastible handgun and try
and save oil —- once the fuel
gauge reaches a set figure you're
on to the next screen — while
keeping an eye on the dreaded
Lobster that sometimes crawls
in from behind.

A droll undertaking, over¬
scored with deafening music.
The problem with the game is it
suddenly gets too hard: the first
three pipes are easy but from
thereon it's damn near impass¬
able. The screen display's dark
backdrop makes the action lucid
and bright, and I like the way you
can set up your workmen's
demise in order to save your own
skin when cornered. Finally,
though, more frustrating than
fulfilling. — R.C,

Game: SUPER PIPELINE
Maker: TASK SET
Madiine: COMMODORE 64
Fbrmat: cassette
Price: ^.90
Batdiig:KK

easy over

Lr-MICBDDBAL

»iee:S8W

BaJingsKKK

^nnat: cassette
*Wce:il7,90
Bating: KKK

COLECOVISION GAMES CONSOLE

INSTRUCTIONS

QUITE SIMPLY-VALUE FOR MONEY!

If you’re looking for real value in a computer system, one which can handle anything from serious Word Processing to
enhanced Colecovision style video games such as Buck Rogers, look no further. The Coleco Adam is here with a package
which will make you wonder if you’re dreaming when we tell you about it. A price breakthrough in computer systems, Adam is
comprised of an 80K RAM memory console* with a built-in 256K digital data drive; a professional quality, stepped and
sculptured 75 key full-stroke keyboard; a letter quality daisywheel printer and a full word processing program built into the
Console. Two additional pieces of software. Smart BASIC and also ‘Buck Rogers - Planet of Zoom’(the ultimate in advanced
video games), are included as well as a blank digital data pack. Adam can be used with any domestic colour Television set.

MEMORY CONSOLE/DATA DRIVE: *The heart of the Adam system is the 40K ROM and 64K RAM memory
console which combines with the 32K ROM and 16K RAM in Colecovision to give you a total of 72K ROM (including 24K
cartridge ROM) and 80K RAM (expandable to 144K). Built into the memory console is a digital data drive which accepts
Adam’s digital data packs, a fast and reliable mass storage medium that is capable of storing 256K of information, that’s
about 250 pages of double spaced text! The console is also designed to accomodate a second optional digital data drive.

FULL STROKE KEYBOARD: The Adam keyboard has been designed as a professional quality keyboard that
combines ease of use with an impressive array of features. It is stepped and sculptured for maximum efficiency and has 75
full stroke keys which include 6 colour coded Smart Keys which are redefined for each new application; 10 command keys
which are dedicated to the word processing function, and 5 cursor control keys for easy positioning of the cursor at any
point on the screen. You can attach a Colecovision controller to the keyboard to function as a numeric keypad for easy
data entry. It can also be held like a calculator, a feature which makes working with numbers particularly easy. The joystick
part of the hand controller can be used in the same way as the cursor control keys, to move the cursor around the screen.

LETTER QUALITY PRINTER: The Smart Writer letter quality daisywheel printer is a bi-directional 80 column
printer which prints at a rate of 120 words per minute. It uses standard interchangeable daisywheels, so a variety of
typestyles are available. The printer has a 9.5 inch wide carriage for either single sheets or continuous fan fold paper and
uses standard carbon ribbons. It is comparable to many printers which cost as much as the total Adam package. The
printer can be used either with the Adam’s Smart Writer word processing program or as a stand alone electronic typewriter.

BUILT-IN WORD PROCESSOR: Adam comes with Smart Writer word processing built-in. This program is so
easy to use that you only have to turn the power on and the word processor is on line and ready to go. Detailed instruction
books are not necessary as the Computer guides you step by step, working from a series of Menu commands. It enables
you to type in text, then completely edit or revise it with the touch of a few keys. Changes are readily made and a series of
queries from the computer confirm your intentions, so that you can continuously double check your work as you type.

COMPATIBILITY WITH COLECOVISION: By using high speed interactive microprocessors in each of the
modules, the Coleco Adam is designed to take additional advantage of both the 32K ROM and 16K RAM memory capability
in the Colecovision. If you do not already own a Colecovision Console (£99 inc VAT), then you will need to purchase this
when you initially purchase your Adam Computer package (£499 inc VAT), making a total purchase price of (£598 inc VAT).

WHAT IS COLECOVISION: Colecovision is one of the worlds most powerful video game systems, capable of
displaying arcade quality colour graphics of incredible quality on a standard Colour TV set. The console (see picture
bottom left) accepts 24K ROM cartridges such as Turbo and Zaxxon and is supplied with the popular Donkey Kong
cartridge and a pair of joystick controllers. Colecovision has a range of licenced arcade hits available such as: Gorf,
Carnival, Cosmic Avenger, Mouse Trap, Ladybug, Venture, Smurf, Pepper II, Space Panic, Looping, Space Fury, Mr Do,
Time Pilot, Wizard of Wor and many others. So there you have it, Adam plus Colecovision the unbeatable combination.
Send the coupon below for your FREE copy of our 12 page Colour brochure giving details on the complete Adam system.

SILICA SHOP LTD.. 1-4 The Mews. Hatherley Road. Sidcup. Kent. DAM 40X Tel: 01-3091111 orOI-3011111

ORDER NOW - OR SEND FOR A FREE COLOUR BROCHURE

r

To: SILICA SHOP LTD, Dept BIGK 0884, 1-4 The Mews, Hatherley Road,
Sidcup, Kent, DAM 4DX Telephone: 01-309 1111 or 01-301 1111

LITERATURE REQUEST: _

□ Please send me your FREE 12 page colour brochure on Colecovision/Adam

□ I own a . Videogame □ I own a . Computer

r

Mr/Mrs/Ms:
Address: ....

Initials: . Surname:

Postcode:

ORDER REQUEST:

Please send me: □ Adam (add-on package only) .£499 inc VAT

□ Adam & Colecovision (£499+£99) £598 inc VAT

□ I enclose Cheque/P.O. payable to Silica Shop Limited

□ CREDIT CARD - Please debit my Access/Barclaycard/Visa/Am Ex/Diners Club

Card Number:

A COMPLETE PACKAGE

80K*RAIVI (Exp to 144K)

Full Stroke Keyboard
256K Data Storage Unit
Daisywheel Printer
Built-In Word Processing
Buck Rogers Arcade Game
Colecovision Compatible

ALL THIS FOR £499!

ADAM - £499

VIDEO GAMES "COMPUTER GAMES" VIDE!

ROCK 'N' ROLL WILL
NEVER DIE (WRONG!)

So ya wanna be a rock star? Step
right this way, but be careful.
The music biz is full of sharks
and the public is fickle.

A while ago K-tel came up with
a game, on Spectrum, which
gives you the opportunity of
stardom. Now it's on CBM-64 —
a wise move.

The game takes the form of
multiple choice questions on the
action you might wish to take.
Options like going on a tour,
choosing a manager, etc. are
presented on the screen and you
have to decide on the best
course of action for your group.

If you decide to write a song
the computer takes on the task
for you. It has to be said that
computers are not great com¬

posers. Lines like "Do you want
a wimp, dooh wop a bop dooh"
are hardly Lennon & McCartney
stuff.

Playing a concert or going on
a tour gives you the chance to
view highlights with music.
Again the aural battering that
can result is likely to make you
go into retirement but as I said,
computers lack imagination in a
big way. — K.A.

Game: IT’S OlSfLY
BJOGKWBOLL
Maker: K-TEL
MacOiine: COMMODORE 64
Format: cassette
Price: i^.95
g:K

SHORT-ARSE

This is the first adventure Tve
seen that compares even in the
slightest with a Dungeons and
Dragons session.

Obviously written by a fan of
Gygax, it's all about this nasty
dwarf, Arfa (ah-ha), who's nicked
some of the local king's jewels.
Understandably, the king is less
than chuffed, and proceeds to
hire the local hero (ah-ha) to get
after the miniature miscreant.

Like most adventures, it's kept
to the traditional mould ... jew¬
els, heroes, kings, etc. The input
parser is better than adequate,
allowing more than two-word
orders.

The packaging is real neat; a
little pamphlet comes with it full
of nice piccies and scene-set¬
ters.

Cleverly constructed (and
fairly long), my only moan is that
it's too easy to crook. — A.G.

YES, IT'S A STEP FORWARD

A slick, complex and damnably
difficult turnaround in which
you, dear hacker, become the
computer. Become the mighty
Psytron computer, that is, the
system in sole charge of the vast
and intricate Betula 5 installa¬

tion. You remain ever vigilant
for intruders, of which, needless
to say, there are many. You pur¬
sue flying saucers across a pan¬
orama of ten screens, chase
inset-like alien saboteurs along
narrow tunnels, trying to hit

superb, nicely-priced and does
seem to match Beyond's claim
to provide "challenging soft¬
ware". My only quibble is that
the initial training levels could
be a bit more encouraging. But
then. I'm lazy. — D.R.

them before they knock off an
airlock or blow a hole in the
pleasure dome or something.
When they do cause damage,
you have to assess it, allocate
resources to effect repairs and
generally juggle supplies to keep
the whole place going.

As I said, damnably difficult.
So difficult that if you manage
to keep the place going for over
an hour at the final level, you
stand to win yourself a QL. To
do that, you have to know the
thing inside out, match the
strategy of a military tactician
with the coordination of a con¬
cert pianist and probably have a
fair bit of luck as well. For myself,
despite much beavering away
into the night. I've only man¬
aged to master Level 1 (chasing
the saboteurs). Popping off the
saucers before they zap the
power plant or knock out the
fuel dump (Level 2) is, as yet,
beyond me.

All of which, I suppose, augurs
well. Psytron is certainly not the
kind of game you master,
exhaust and discard in a couple
of afternoons. It's graphically

’€ltir

K = Cioiild Be Better >
KK = CoTild Be Worse
KKK = Unsurpassable k

Hah! You don't fool me. This is Q-Bert. Rather a crude Bert at
that. Colour plays something of an active part here. Fact is it
lights up the room like a disco and without sunglasses leaves you
partially blind. Q-Bert has fallen in love with the beautiful Prin¬
cess Aran from Tapen. Before being given access to the hand of
said lovely lady he must complete a task set for him by her father,
King Eg. This task is the painting of the Great Pyramid of Vail. So
you guessed already, huh? Of course there's the Inevitable
bouncing ball, bouncing from the top of the pyramid, more than
capable of pancaking Bert like a frog in the road, and the Thin
Man instead of a snake.

The overall impression is one of a game released before the
finishing touches are added. It lacks the roundness of a quality
game and the key responses aren't what they oughta be. Never¬
theless it does have a certain addictive quality, carried over from
the original idea, I suppose. But why, would someone mind
telling me, do the software houses continue to flood the market
with copies of games already available? — K.A.

Grame: PYRAMID PAINTER Format: cassette
lNLdJx.Bn THOR Price: ^>5.95

Machine: BBC MODEL B Bating: K

Swooosh!

A whisker late for last win¬
ter's Olympics, but this
sparky simulation of ski slope
bravado is a fresh-faced,
cleverly paced game that
keeps one steering digit from
getting too good and another
itching on the replay key.

It comes in three stages —
slalom circuit, ski jump and
downhill — and your begog-
gled Olympiast has to nego¬
tiate each punishing test with
scarcely a pause to dust
down his irons. The slalom is
a comparative pushover, the
jump difficult to garner the
big scores on — and the
downhill is plain murder.
What really lifts the game is
the wealth of detail: the
sound of approaching skis on
the jump followed by the
deathly silence when your
screen-size Steiner leaps is
beautifully done, and the
graphics are an all-round
classic. When the skier comes
to an untimely halt in going
for gold, a helicopter breezes
on to scoop up the shattered
casualty.

In one sense this is an
almost perfect game for the
micro user, for the lonely
dedication of the Slopes
Superman makes an appos¬
ite heroism for the hacker to
aspire to. You won't be piste
off with this one too fast. —
R.C.

Unremarkable fistful of shoot
'em ups that require pati¬
ence rather than skill. Appar¬
ently I've to tackle an
oncoming onslaught of alien
craft single handed, the rest
of the planet having evi¬
dently gone to lunch. Sound
familiar?

Space Swarm is rather
unconventional in that
although it offers five differ¬
ent screens you don't have
to clear any of them to make
any progress. But this is a

Shades of Carol Shaw's neat
River Ra/d colour this furious
Amazonian roller-coaster ride
for the BBC B. In it you pilot a
fast, if somewhat titchy, strike
plane down a ludicrously well
defended river canyon in
order to decimate some
nameless command centre
and a nest of nasty missile
silos. No easy task!

Missile launchers and pop¬
ping pill boxes are bolstered
by screaming enemy jets and
patrol ships as you progress
down the river, and it quickly
turns into quite a fire-fest! As
you might expect on this kind
of mission, both of your fire
power and fuel supplies are
limited. To replenish you'll
need to dock with a sister ship
which (first) appears at
around the 10,000 point mark.
Needless to say if you run out
of ammo before cranking up
that kind of score you're in
mucho trouble!

Although I began my
fighter pilot career by
bemoaning the limit of one
plane per game I quickly for¬
gave the oversight and

rather pointless twist. All the
attack waves terminate after
a set time regardless of how
you're doing. Consequently
there's no real challenge or
point to the game.

Visually it's okay with the
likes of the Galags and Sky
Skaters being colourfully
rendered, but the sound is a
little coarse. I played it with
indifference. Not so much
hopeless as half-baked I'd
say. — S.K.

became well and truly
addicted. The graphics are
tight and colourful, if a touch
symbolic, and the sounds are
great. It loads like the last
night of the proms!

I'd rate this one of the
toughest, tastiest take-em-
outs available for the old Beeb
and consequently think it's
well worth the ackers. Go give
'em hell. — S.K.

Game: OLYMPIC SKIER
Maker: MR CHIP
Machine: COMMODORE 64
Format: cassette
Price: & 5.99
Rating: KKK

Game: EAGLES WING
Maker: SOFTWARE
DWASIOH
Machine: BBC B
Format: cassette or dJisk
Price: ^7.95 or ib 11.95
Rating: KKK

Game: SPACE SWARM
Maker: SOFTWARE
PRQJECIS
Machine: VIC 20
Format: cassette
Price: ^5.50
Rating: K

Cheops Meets Dulux

tDC COLDSTiiR

OnlM fhf bravc^rt n\e

Game: THE GREEDY DWARF
Maker: GOLDSTAR
Machine: BBC B
Format: cassette
Price: ^9.95
Rating: KK

Space Swarm

THIS ROMAN KNOWS

'eh?' is the only response it does
give. The icing on the cake is a
thoroughly unimaginative set of
descriptions and a particuarly nasty
reference to the talking habits of

women, something an Intelligent
author should be above. All in ail
rather silly and a waste of
everyone's time and effort, small
though it might have been. — K.A.

In the neverending race to join the
computer games market the
software houses, as everyone
knows, are adopting an attitude of If
it's got 'computer game' written on
it publish it'. If it goes on at this rate
in six months time we can expect
to fork out half a dozen hard earned
oncers on something that adds two
and two together. Legion isn't quite
that bad — you've got to give it
points for trying. It's an adventure.,
it's in Basic and it's about as
amusing as eating dead cats.
Naturally they've done a great job
on the cassette inlay. Look at all
those words, 'examine', 'smell' and
'wait'. Looks great on the shelf but
wait till you get it home. All those
lovely words displayed so alluringly
elicit a useful response of 'eh?'. In
fact apart from 'you can't do that'.

Game: LEGIOU
Maker: SOFTWARE
PROJECTS

Machine: BBC MODEL B
Format: cassette
Price: &7.95
Bating: None

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VIDEO GAMES “COMPUTE I

= CoTjld Be Better
= Could Be Worse
= Unsurpassable

When Thorn EMI became Crea¬
tive Sparks a few months ago
they took the opportunity to
dump a few pieces of naffware
in their previous catalogue. One
they didn't dump was Ore Attack.

This game has run into a little
criticism from the mealy-
mouthed on account of there's a
lot of gore around. So what?
When you're manning the mor¬
tices single-handed and endless
hordes of evil goblins are scal¬
ing the walls, you do what you
have to. Luckily you have handy
(a) boiling oil, (b) a sword, and
(c) a spear. Using these honest
implements, you then proceed
Ito slaughter as many of the
1 opposition as you can over four
[wholesome screens.

Before we go any further let
me just say that if you buy the
farm your head falls off.

I like this game a lot. The gen¬
eral setup is a little like Kaboom
— only you are the mad bomber,
and the bombs you drop are
actually buckets of high-tem¬
perature oliovascular liquids.
Action and movement are very
smooth — you leap to and fro
along the battlements from boil-
ing-oil store to spear rack,
thumbing the fire button with an
animal snarl to tip the bubbling
pots over the ascending svartal-
far. Cream the first wave and
other nasties, including a sor¬
cerer, finally take you out. But
what an end!

Yes, by the Bad Breath of Helm

(this is based on the Tolkien
Helm's Deep episode, isn't it?).
Ore Attack is a crudely-themed,
highly-skilled, totally enjoyable
slice of the kind of computer
game that gets computer games
a bad name among people who
think spreadsheets in Arabic are
the last word in self-indulgence.
Although it's a ROM and there¬
fore pricy, get it if you can. You'll
enjoy the bit with the falling head
ever so much< —T.T.

S«®-^9-95

wm

SliTHSSOFT

TANK

SiiPEBSOFT

Kwml

CAN YOU BEAT OUR

We've got the biggest (and best) selection of games
for the Commodore 64. We think they're unbeatable

STREETS OF
LONDON

MORE THAN GAMES...

Our FREE catalogue lists dozens of programs
for your Commodore 64 to help you run your business
write pr^rams, or Just enjoy yourself. We've been producing
top quality software j-. mm ^

since 1978. So if you want Qf 1^1711^017T

the best. Just remember our name. . .l3%/JL JuiA^l3^jrA JL

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Harrow, Middlesex, HA3 7SJ Telephone: 0V861 1166

Ni»H* 5^^^''« si

fCtfiiirnH

tIDNE

■■■■ LEFT:

Imagine's The
^■■Pl Alchemist:

horizontal
and vertically
scrolling
maze — and
one of the
best of the
genre. But are
mazes

F^nnilah?

t S t » «

H N games like

“ " Acornsoft's

jt jk ^ jp Carousel are

^ » excellent

^ simulations
but do they
compare with
five minutes
on the real
thing for
fairground

liftitlMllilitttititiiiifififtliMIfiltitiiiiitiiftdtliltltiiittiiiiiiii bliSS?

RIGHT: a MM
standard
look-down
maze. Easy
enough to
generate but
a bit passe
these davs.

form, is endemic to com¬
puter games — since one
thing computers can easily
be made to generate (indeed,
it suits their personality) is
mazes.

Does that mean we're stuck
with mazes for ever? Isn't
there another form of testing
a player's sense of location
and ability to navigate by
what used to be called Dead
Reckoning?

And because sprites can be
turned Into both players and
missiles (Atari even call their
patented sprite system
Player-Missile Graphics)
does that mean that some¬
where, in every 'arcade'
game, there has to be both a
player and a missile (and
therefore, by implication, an
enemy)? Driving games test
the reflexes, and flying
games test both reflexes and
intellect, but isn't there some
way of producing an original
piece of software (oh all right,
'game') that tests the reflexes
to the testee's absolute sat¬
isfaction and yet doesn't
somehow, even at the last
ditch, involve mayhem and
projectiles?

Not a lot of it about.

Games designers of the
next five years are going to
have to ditch their obses¬
sions with the anatomy of
what their machines can do
and start thinking about what
they can make It do

COLOUR

FAR TOO many computer-
game screens resemble gar¬
ish, recently-designed flags

e years games software designers
have fallen into some bad habits, argues TONY
TYLER. Locked into endless loops dictated by the
nature of present-day microcomputers, they are
missing the chance to make real Quantum Leaps,
it's not all gloom ...

FACE of It, games
a funny thing,
e hand you have
o, while they
in program-
s, at least

ave a sense of originality. It
» they who, most often,
evise games with new
lemes and new ways of
)oking at things. On the
ther hand we have the
oubted wizards of the
IVs, the programmers
n code anything in
th the matchless
ichelangelo, but
ink up games

often — in
your own direct experience
— you have detected that a
particulargamewasall hung
around one particular lick. Far
too often this has been the
sis of a new game or soft-
idea. PacMan and its
cs owe their existence
rogrammer's discov-
aze generation.
iQ^ml^^^cramble and the

# .fiMBS.iR^round the time
^pfdgranrtmers dlscov-

ered how to poke the display
lists on their Ataris and
Apples to produce reason¬
ably smooth horizontal
scrolling. Commodore's big
fat sprites marshalled in
ranks gave rise to a whole
style of arcade games that is
still with us. The fact that lad¬
ders are fast and easy to gen¬
erate on pixel grids led to the
Kong series; and so on.

These days the one-man
programmer-designer of the
past is a rare creature. Jeff
Minter is one obvious
example; Matthew Smith is
certainly another. True orig¬
inality such as these men
possess has always been rare
enough; in their case it is the
confidence begotten of suc¬
cess which has allowed them
to let their imaginations loose
and come through time after
time with such genuine orig¬
inals as Jet Set Willy and the
Mutant Camel series.

Overall design thinking is
becoming ever more import¬
ant. Design teams are thefix-
ture of today. Ultimate's

creations are widely
thought to be wholesale
team efforts, albeit under
strong leadership. The top
US companies like Atari also
employ designers as team
members. (Activision are the
exception to this rule.) In
other words, the art of
designing games design Is
settling down and establish¬
ing accepted parameters, just
as microcomputers are set¬
tling on the memory range
64K-128K, with the 68000
being the top favourite pro¬
cessor for the next genera¬
tion (if there is a next
generation other than MSX
— but let that pass for now.)

Since a good many of you
out there undoubtedly har¬
bour ambitions to be among
the Elect of the future —
who'll make a fat living and
drive Lamborghinis, etc. on
the strength of your games
earnings — It seems a good
idea to examine what makes
a good game — and what is
likely to make a good game
of the future.

ORIGINALITY

TAKE THE Maze.

You have look-down
mazes, typified by PacMan or
Advanced Dungeons and
Dragons, not to mention a
thousand others. You have
vertically scrolling mazes —
River Raid is in effect an
aquatic maze. You have the
side-on maze view of Scram¬
ble; the 3D maze of Death
Chase and others not half so
good. It seems the maze,
either In graphic or written

PITFALL (left),
yet another
example of
slick horizontal
scrolling; but a
maze is a maze
for a' that.

POP QUIZ
(left)

attempted
a video
feel but
naffed out
on lo-res.

as do the designers of the
best business software, like
Wordstar, SuperCalc,

TK!Solver ^nd other^^lt is a
fact — sad but true^-^ that
more ingenuity and, yes, art¬
istry is currently being shown
by some of the mavericks "

who design insanely inter¬
esting packages ostensibly
for IBM-owning biz types, «
than by the megastars of the ^
games world. The whole Idea
of 'Thought processi ng' ' is
still in early stages but none¬
theless represents a giant
leap in computeracy. Where
Is the games leap to match
that? The best games these
days tend to be simulations
anyway — so while allowing
the skill, where's the origi¬
nality? What adventure, even
Zork, outdoes The Lord of the
Rings for ultimate D & D
bliss? What arcade game can
match five minutes with a .22
in a shooting gallery for
marksmanship satisfaction?

What flight simulator is as
good as one minute in the
real thing?

Games designers (per¬
haps we should stop using
this word 'games') should
begin to re-think their objec¬
tives — to put the computer,
the screen, the disc drive —
and, yes, now the laserdisc
— to work for them, to real¬
ise Ideas they have had and
not ideas theof
the computer and the other
hardware have dictated.

More time has to be taken,
and inevitably this win mean
fewer and more costly
releases. Software stuould
aim to provide the end user,
no matter how frivolous ofriTUCI
casual his motives, with a
usable or at least tangible
end product, probably in the
form of a print-out (like the
holed fairground target you
tote proudly a round all dayl.

It should, in short, aim to be
more of a tool. This doesn't
mean "boring" — it means
"useful" in the sense a guitar
is both useful and frivoloi#^'
at the same time.

We should all aim higher
than we do. We've come |
long way, but we're in dar?-
ger of getting slack. This is
no time for it. ^

It's going to be Interest¬
ing .. .

for newly-independent for¬
mer colonies. All day-glo and
stars, If you get me. Too
much. Over the top.

It's a pity you can't get
sepia and only sepia on com¬
puters. It would force
designers to think Eye
instead of Pixel. (ZX80, where
are you now that we need
you?)

To me, the news that a new
computer will generate six¬
teen colours in any resolu¬
tion mode is Invariably bad
news. For far too often
breakthroughs like this are
met by the software design¬
ers' absolute determination
to use those 16 colours all
the damn time, come what
may. Boy, are those screens
a riot of colour! So much a
riot of colour are they that
within five minutes you're
bored spitless with any
colours other than pure white
and intellectual black, and the
very idea of aquamarine or
cyan makes you want to go
and park your lunch In the
nearest paper bag.

In the immortal words of
the Electricity Boards — Save
It!

TEXT

THIS HAS improved, though
horrors remain.

Text comes into games for
(a) title screens, (b) instruc¬
tions, scores, etc., and (c)
throughout (in adventures
only).

Since all prompts and
extraneous messages from
'computer' to punter are
almost always conveyed by

use of text (again, honoura¬
ble exception to Aviator and
decent flight sims), it follows
that the actual use of the
printed word should be a
matter of some skill — a skill
which, like the creation and
deployment of moving
graphics, needs to be stud¬
ied and used as effectively as
possible.

In a word, text should be
"user-friendly" as possible to
do its job. Since in text terms
nothing yet invented is as
user-friendly as a good book
(I'm sticking to that) it fol¬
lows that to be effective, text
in computer terms has got to
be readable and accessible.
By "accessible" I mean the
punter has got to be able to
"flip pages", either back¬
wards (to refresh memory)
or forwards (to skip a bit).

But like I said, the trade has
cleaned up its act recently in
this respect, no doubt after
getting acquainted with
decent word processors. But
(and this hurts, folks) to judge
by the average standard of
title screens on games sent
in by readers to Big K, the
average amateur designer
has a lot to learn on this sub¬
ject.

For some reason VIC-20
owners are the worst.
WORDS WRAP UNCO
MFORTABLY AROUND TH
E SCREEN LIKE TH
IS.

Misspellings occur all over
the place — in commercial
software too. Grammar —
not to mention English — is
often distinctly dodgy.
There's no mystery about

text handling as Computer
Concepts recognised when
they constructed the excel¬
lent Wordwise. It's simply a
case of being able to go
backwards at will, forwards
at will, and be able to read it
when you've got it.

The choice of words is still
up to you. That can't change,
nor should it.

While we're on the sub¬
ject, let me say a word about
Adventures. Besides being
location-obsessed (a char¬
acteristic of binary maths and
not art) far too many of these
games, so challenging in so
many other ways, are still
based on corny heroics of
one form or another.
Granted, other examples
have appeared; but It still
seems sad that this brave
new form hasn't yet come
nearmatching the skills to be
found in even an ordinary
novel. Is it the medium itself
— the screen and so forth?
Or is it yet again the con¬
straints imposed on them¬
selves by the programmers,
who at bottom are far too
often interested In what the
machine will do and less
interested in what may be
needed.

If all this sounds a bit
gloomy let me say that I feel
that computer games design
has just about reached the
end of its first burst of speed
and Is pausing to draw breath
and re-evaluate. When you
consider that we are today
playing games that in the
main owe their inception to
ideas being tried out more
than five years ago . .. you
can see the need. But since
those far-off days much has
happened. Larger memories
and disc drives (you see. I'm
doing it myself) have opened
up technical possibilities
simply unavailable five years
ago. (jreater experience and
a more demanding market
will — must — force the bet¬
ter software designers to
think again. There are already
signs that teams of devel¬
opers, working with super¬
processors and 128K
machinery, are starting to put
together new forms of com¬
puter game — by lavishing
as much time and devotion

VIDEO GAMES « COMPUTER G

HOMICIDAL NAVVY

What I need in my games is action. I want to cruise the universe
with a laser in my hand and a gleam in my eye leaving a wake of
death and destruction. I mean, I wanna KILL Somehow putter¬
ing around the landscape in a JCB Digger clearing undergrowth
and keeping half an eye open for 'Meanies' doesn't seem to fit
the bill. Isay half an eye but sometimes you can fall asleep at the
wheel looking for them. At one point I though they might have
followed the path of the Dodo to extinction.

A Meany is something that gets its kicks driving JCB Diggers,
yours in particular. They can be fairly easily disposed of either
by pushing them into the sea or digging a hole and burying
them, whereupon they drift off to sleep. Steep? Being beanoed
by three tons of rubble spells dead in this boy's book.

As I said before, Meanies are pretty scarce beasts and when
you find one they aip't the brightest bucket of worms. Chances
are they'll do a runner and leave you in the middle of a Meany-
free landscape for the next fifteen minutes.

Alt in all rather a pity because the graphics are stunning. But
then my habit craves blood. — K.A.

JCB Digger

for the BBC Mic»ocompiiter Mo^

.

Game: JBC DIGGER
Maker: ACORNSOFT
Machine: BBC MODEL B
Format: cassette/disc
Price: £9.95 (cassette)
£14.95 (disc)

Bating: K

I I

We're told that Reginald Bach
(Johann's cousin) invented this game
back in 1726 — the first ever video
game.

Zoids proves that Reg was bach¬
ing up the wrong tree.

A drab plectrum-shaped object is
at your command. Your task is to
destroy an ever increasing number
of Zoids — round blobs which begin
to bounce around the screen and
grow in size until they turn into large
furry cog-wheels.

Destroy Zoids with the usual laser
arrangement. Your secondary task is
to maintain laser energy level by col¬
lecting energy packs from little
spacemen that temporarily hover
about the screen. As you begin to
reach the higher levels of play said
screen becomes a confused array of
multi-coloured blobs and space-men
— nearly impossible to cope with.

Not an easy game to play with, but
that alone doesn't succeed in making
it a challenge.

I'd rather spend the money on one
of Johann's records and have a game
offrisbee. —N.X.

Game: ZOIDS
Maker: SOFTEK
Machine: COMMODORE 64
Format: cassette
Price: £7.95
Bating: K

Decidedly lacklustre Q*Bert
clone from a software house that
really should know better. The
graphics are scratchy, the
colours are garish and the
gameplay is decidedly routine. It
comes as a definite downer after
the excellence of other Ocean
conversions like Mr Wimpy and
Eskimo Eddie.

On paper (at least) Pogo looks
fairly successful. The fat fellow
hops around that familiar paint-
spiattered pyramid, much as
you'd expect him to do, and
there's the obligatory crystal ball
and pig-tailed snake to avoid. In
latter screens you merit extra
flying discs and, what the inlay
card assures me are 'aggressive
scorpions' — frankly I'd never
have guessed it from looking. It's
the only Spectrum Q^Bert I've
come across that retains the cuss
balloon which Pogo emits when

he's stomped upon. I played it
with little enthusiasm.

Owners of Currah speech syn¬
thesizers (with which Pogo is
compatible) may derive a little
more pleasure from the sound,
which is good. The snake hisses
convincingly but it is difficult to
make out whether he is saying
"slither, slither" or "sniffer, snif¬
fer"! Taunting remarks such as
"last life, Pogo", or "pathetic",
serve only to stiffen your resolve
to beat the game into dust.

Q^Bert groupies are advised
to look elsewhere for more
authentic thrills. — S.K.

Game: POGO
Maker: OCEAW
Machine: SPECTRUM 48K
Format: cassette
Price: £5.90
Bating: K

Stupefying interpretation of that
funfair sideshow in which you
take pot shots at stupid tin ducks,
stuffed toy prizes, the stall owner
and wallies with candyfloss.
Connoisseurs will be pleased to
note that all the finger-numbing
challenge of the original has
been faithfully reproduced.
You'll gasp as the featureless
ducks 'n' bunnies trundle inex-
porably from left to right and
you'll shiver as the clock counts
down and the ammo runs out!
Purists will also be pleased to
hear that no odious second
screen has been added to dilute
the action. It's pop, pop, pop all
the way. The mayhem is unre¬
lenting. ZZZZZZZ . . . — S.K.

Game: KWAZY KWAKS
Maker: MR CHIP SOFTWARE
Machine: (UHEXPANDED)
VIC-20

Format: cassette
Price: £5.50
Bating: None

THIS ANT'S
ON FIRE

You know what it's like watching Dallas J
has )ust pulled a nasty on everybody except t
ca so half of Texas is lurking in the shadov
with an uncanny array of weapons aimed in fl
general direction of his throat when a so;
smooth voice oozes from the TV set, 'tune i

next week to,,.'etc. That's the way A

gets you. In the end I had to call on a mate fc
help. We worked shifts on it fora whole week
end trying to find the last screen (the eighth)

On Monday morning at four o-clock I finalh

SSpt,***

Setting the scene, the ants'nest has been

and held hostage. One small ant has been left
alive and he decides to mount a solo rescue

—. Heart in mouth he takes a noSe

nto the nest in search of his queen. All he has
to survive is his wits and he'll need them - the

scorpions pack a mean wallop.

Working through the screens requires a fair

u ut, Lurreci order before gates oper
t^jnnels clear and the scorpions always seerr
be in the most awkward place.

All in all a great game. I'm just going to b

for a week before I get stuck back in again.

Game; BTOE AMT
Maker: MOGUL
Machine: COMMODORE 64
fowaat: cassette
Srice: d&7.95
Bating: KKK

FOR SPECTRUM 48K

CONQUEST

CONQUEST A tactical game which even veteran
players will find both challenging and rewarding.

Mediterranean Europe is divided into grid squares. Your
aim, as Emperor, is to gain 100 squares of territory as quickly as
possible-at the same time dealing with Barbarian counter¬
attacks, plagues, civil war and rival Emperors.

5 levels of skill, plus a continuous ‘Conquest’ game where
all the difficulty levels are thrown in together.

3D BAT ATTACK An all action, 3 dimensional

maze game where you gather up blocks of gold, at the same
time pitting your wits against vicious vampire bats whose
only purpose in life is to locate, hunt and kill you.

4 levels of skill. At each level the game gets faster and
more complicated, and the vampires more dangerous.

AFTERTHESE.

THE REST IS KIDS STUFF

So don’t play unless you’re ready
to play the game for real. Because you’ll
find there’s one sure thing about
CheetahSoft: Soft we’re not.

good stores.

Also available by sending cheque/P.O. for £6.95p to:

CHEETAH SOFT LTD., 24 Ray Street, London ECl Tel: 01-833 4733

Advertisement

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AND CALCULATOR.
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'For current interest rate please ask at your local NatWest branch.

KOSMIC KANGA, a multi-screen, amazing, arcade standard original action game.
Featuring superbly animated graphics and packed full of arcade features.

Help KANGA find his space ship so he can return home to his planet.

Leap about buildings, trees, clouds etc., pick up bonuses and throw boxing
gloves at the enemies.

Keyboard or most joystick. 48K SPECTRUM for most other
Computers soon.

Tutankhamun

48K Spectrum

Pengy

ANY SPECTRUM

nMf

16K/48K Spectrum

Invasion Force

ONLY £5.95 EACH

Available from most good software retailers.

If your local software retailer is out of stock, send
cheque/P.O. to Micromania, 14 Lower Hill Rd.,
Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LT., and we will send your
order by first class post free.

DEALERS: 'PHONE MICRODEALER UK 0727 34351 OR MICROMANIA (03727)20152

A

i

GAMES OF OUR TIME

In both VCS and computer
formats. Atari's STAR
RAIDERS cart has set the
standard for 3D space
war. TONY TYLER
explains why.

V S CMCM K : CB3
o: -f-Diai <t>:

I #

csaTa*? TSa
-I-cm R s Hhcms

iho """" i ..

/U »V - ,.>\ .-SU'OSO'- V

Tv '""'tv T a"''‘'"^";':u

vouv Scvo"'"

^ i.. Viiu^

HaTSTicsx

I-SSSSSS

"nen-vs VV‘.V" Oonnn>^

rsv" n‘'=^ '".’■-T’An'/'^'

yu S'*'-' «"'‘'‘Tu I V-

■jpbVivvv^ ^xpens'V-' -- .aM '.'^\,,,v-

some o> U .n

. ..n.> vvrtV Hun *«V‘‘

.(S ''IS
\>,\>1\V

,, the un've'**-'-
.J. 1\V0 oi .V...WVS. Vov

• v'U'T'bvfS-y^.VHe VJ'UP-

advantage ca"

a “ ''’’‘jTn shows you a'. ‘

Lie Grid tha youi

; the target en .^ gals shoy«

fSn

4'^ vuue,*- pvoovv*^'* ^■

tTers-'‘^'^nr aemahasce'ta|,^^^ ^

remains u'rGea^ ^ r.U-id ' veduired

that tideaanarcad '"’ l' W

..noUiei goo'^ 39 im .^^V,

'a?. Srt

T'v'"® lie’s the
rvaUckn

1

Announcing the birth of the personal information centre...
... a new concept in intelligent sourcing of computer suitability
to your needs, consultancy, purchasing, maintenance and repair.

*EPSONFX80 £322+ VAT
PERSON RX80 FT £226 + vat
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^COLOUR MONITOR
FIDELITY CM 14 £185 inc vat
^HUNDREDS OF DISCOUNT
PRICES.

WE SUPPLY
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Join MDRNow

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HOW TO JOIN

Consultancy

Purchasini^

jThe MDR Membership Pl^

Maintenance

*SANYOMBC555 +

S Wordstar, Mailmerge, Calcstar,
Infoster £810+ vat (QT i)

❖EPSON PX8 + Wordstar,
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Protable CALC (qt 2 )

❖COMMODORE 64

£148 + vat(QT3)
❖BBCB £315 + vat(QT4)

❖ACTAPRICOT256K2x315K
DD + MON £1,500 + vatcqts)
❖FUTURE FX20 plus
Spellbinder£l ,593.75 + vat(QT7)
❖ORIC ATMOS 48K

£132 +VAT(QT6)
❖SINCLAIR SPECTRUM 48K
£98 + VAT(QT7)
❖atari 600XL £117 + vat(qt 8)

DELIVERY £7.50

IN LONDON DELIVERY FREE

A I you have do IS write your name and address on the coupon below enclosing yourcheque/P.O. for£10, made payable to: MDR Ltd and you will immediately be

h ink°of MDR f ® ’’ of membership is issued) Dealer enquiries welcome.

.. Ahink of MDR® when you are about to purchase a micro, peripherals, or software whether it be for your business or pleasure, consult us for just about anything
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consultants, SUPPLIERS AND ENGINEERS TO HOME
W AND BUSINESS COMPUTER USERS

Post to: MDRs Ltd. 27 Belleville Road, London, SWll 6QS.

Please find enclosed my cheque for £10.00

I understand that I will automatically be eligible for MDR® .services, and may call 7
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□ PURCHASING □ CONSULTANCY

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To help us serve you better, plea.se enclose a brief of the service you require.

Creating sprites on the 64 is as simple as
1,2,3. One: Type in this listing. Two: Make
sure it runs. Three: Connect your joystick
and create away. This useful utility will
embellish your games with sensational
sprites of a superior nature.

By J. Mellon & K. Randle
for COMMODORE 64

0

REM

*####*##############

225

1

REM

*################*####

REM

####S

;PRITE CREATOR####

230

■t!

REM

####

BY

####

4

REM

####

J.MELLON

####

\

cr

REM

####

&

####

240

C»

REM

####

K.RANDLE

####

T

REM

######################

245

REM

♦####*##############

250

3

S=8:

DIM E<63):DIM A<9)

:V=0

^crc^

10

20

40

53281.2

»M:4SPRITEi

7k}

^0

1 00
; 10
120
130
140
150
lo0
17B

PR I NT “T

POKE 53280 ..0 -POKE
REPTOR

PR I NT m

IONS"

PR I NT"
f-RITE"

PR I NT" :i!it!]t|iiiiiiii»i>ia43ai

ITE”

PR I NT" :(!ii!WiiMit»iia44ii

SPRITE"

PR I NT "

SPRITE tiflTfi"

PR I NT" :t!ii!!Ji*iiiiiWiiia«ai
PRITE"

GET Qf:IF Q$=""THEH 108
IF Qf="l"THEH
IF Qt="2"THEH
Q$="3"THEN
Qf="4"THEH
0$="5"THEN
Qf="6"THEN

C.
INSTRUCT
CREATE S
SAVE SPR
DISPLAV
DISPLAY
RECALL S

IF
IF
IF
IF

GOTO 100

200

800

2000

400

500

600

197 REM****######*#*#*****

198 REM#***INSTUCTIOHS###*

199 REM******#*#*###*#####

200 Pure 53280.'0 • poke 53281.6

205 PRINT"2ins>iiifTHE SPRITE CREATER P
SOGRAM ENABLES"

210 PRINT"HKJKIt'OU TO DESIGN AND MAKE
A SPRITE AND"

215 PRINr"lifc»|(!t3T0RE IT ON TAPE FOR FU
TURE USE IN "

220 PRINT" WftJfYOUR OWN PROGRAMS.IN TH
13 WAV ANY "

PRINT"»!»»KHUMBER of SPRITES COULD
BE STORED ON"

PRINT";i!*9l!!irAPE THUS CREATING A "
PR I NT " SPR ITE LIBRAR

V i

BAP"

IPRESS rlSPACE

SOTO 245

230 PRINr-GliiliikiWHEN YOU SELECT OPTIC
N ^J'CFEhTE a "

265 PRIHT":!!l»>Pr5PRITE..FR0M THE MENU. A
GRID OF ORANGE"

270 PRIHT"#Ii!*iliIE;ALL3 WILL BE PRINTED 0
M THE SCREEN."

275 PRINT":!!M«!liSlli|iryOU CAN MOVE AROUND
TriE GRID USING"

280 f'RINT"?I?*»LTOVSTICK IN FORT 2..

OR THE KEY BOARD"

285 PRINT":Si!!>ilifE=LEFT".. "rtiiil—UP"

2l90 f r I NT" :E!ii!.ii»i»^:=R i ght "." =down "

295 PRIHT":ttS®»|iMi|iiMI|iMiPRESS JiSPACEB
AR"

300 GET R$:IF R$=""THEN 380

301 IF R$=" "THEN 383

302 GOTO 300

303 FRIHT";M?*ili»fT‘CiU LEAVE A MARK ON
THE GRID WHEN "

304 PRINT".?I?li»rT'OU PRESS THE SPACEBAR
OR THE FIRE"

305 PRINT" !!l?**CUTTON. TO ERASE A MARK
JUST MOVE "

306 P'RINT";!»>*ITHE white BALL BACK OVE

R THE MHRK"

307 FRINT":«)»fRND PRESS THE SPACEBAR
OR THE FIRE"

308 FRIHT'‘:«S>ilBUTTOH AGIAH."

309 PRiHT":««e»»i»»*ii»iiiiPREss c«pac

EEAR"

310 GET R$:IF R$=‘"‘THEN 310

311 IF R$=" "THEN 313

312 GOTO 310

313 PRIHT".’l«!*tiiHHEN VOU HAVE COMPLEX
ED VOUR SPRITE"

314 PRINT":«Il!li*|JUST PRESS THE FI KEV T
0 RETURN TO"

315 PRIHT";«R>tlTHE MENU. THEN VOU CAN E
ITHER SAVE VOUR"

316 FRINT"i!»Jit5PRITE.DISPLAY VOUR SPR
ITE.RlEAD VOUR"

31? PRINT"«if>iBPRITE DATA AND ALSO VO
U CAN RECALL A"

313 PRINT"J!ft»BPRTTE PREVIOUSLY SAVED
ON TAPE."

319 PRINT":«M«!»fMiili*Mii»»PRESS SFlS-fO

R MENU"

320 GET R$-IF R*=""THEN 320

321 GET Rf lF R$="''THEN 321

322 IF Rf="«"THEN 10
-’w3 GUTU 321

400

402 REM#*#*DISPLAV SPRITE*#**

403 REM**********************

405 PR I NT "

_£SS FI FOR MENU"

406 POKE 5S!2£i1.i6
410 V=5324S

420 POKE V+21..4
430 POKE 2042.. 13
435 POKE V+41.0

440 FOR N=0 TO 62 •• POKE 832+N.. BfN>

:HE:^^T n

•445 POKE Vt-23.. 4 :pOKE V+29,4
4-50 FOR! rt=Pi TPi 25Pi

451 GET IJ$

452 IF U-T="ia"THEN POKE V+-21.. 8 :GOTO 10
468 POKE y+4.. FSFOKE V+.5.7;

478 NEia :4
480 GOTO 4-50

500 REM**********.ti.****************

501 RbM****DISPLHV SPRITE DATA****

502 REM*********.******************

504 Z==0:POKE 53280.0:POKE 5:3281.0
PRINT" 2!"

585 PRINT B(Z)TAB<5>.; :PRINT 'B<2+i;-TAB
<10.:'.; --PRINT BCZ-f-O)

510 2=2'+3

515 IF Z>61 THEN 525
520 goto 505

325 PR I NT "

FI"

538 PRINT">i»iii|ii0i»ii»iiii!i«FOR MENU"

540 GET W$:IF Wf=""THEN 540
550 IF lTf="a‘'THEN 18
560 GOTO 540

600 REM*********:**********.***

501 REM***REC:hLL A SPRITE****

682 FEM*************:***.******

505 RUN 610

516 :5=0:DIM B(63.):DIM R(9>

615 POKE 53230.. 0: POKE 53281.5

620 INP UT " ni!M»Mi!M(!MlM«lii|tiP|i>ii|ikNAME
OF SPRITE" : .rt

621 PR I NT "

PLAV ON TAPE"

6-50 OPEN 1.1.0..J$

660 FOR H=0 TO ©2'

670 IHPUT#1.h
680 E(H4=A

630 NEXT H
695 CLOSE 1

700 PRINT"i;.'ia4l!!M?l!lft|i»|i»#iPiWVOU HOW H
AVE IN MEMOFV"

701 F RT NT" ; .Jf.

702 P'RIHT":a?M«i!!lBM?SiS32»ljSiii|i|iiii|F'RESS FI
FOR MENU"

710 GET V-T=‘"‘Th£N 718

720 IF ;T':f="ia"THEH 10
7 :jS GCTiO 718

800 IF 3>0 THEN 56800

801 S=S+1
885 PRINT";i"

606 POKE .5:3230..8:POKE 5:32£!l..0

810 K=1024

820 FOR L=0 TO 20

830 f'OR C=0 TO 2:3:POKE N-i-C.Si '

POKE KfC-H54272..3
840 NENT C::>'=Kf40:NEXT L
650 PR I NT" .

855 rPINT"*»lsll<lEVBOARD OR :4JBDVSTICK"

856 GET at: IF rr$=""THEN 856

860

IF

HT=-'K'

' THEN

GOTO

30000

861

IF

R$="..P

‘THEN

\‘=V+i

: GOTO

30000

862

GOTO 356

670

F'R

iNT"n

F

L£RSE

WAIT

(I

910

H (

i::' = 128:

A'::2> =

64 ‘ H<.

3.:'=:32:

A(;4>=16

: A':. 5 > =8: A < 6.:. =4: A (7.:' =2 '• A < 8 > = 1
920 V= 1023: T-0 0=0 K=0
1000 FOR P=1 TO 21
1018 FOR N=0 TO 2
1820 FOR S=l TO 8

10:30 IF PEEK(.V-i-S+R)=168 THEN T=T+fl(SI'
1040 NEXT S
1642 R=R-+-S

1050 B(0>=T

1051 0=0+1
1055 T=0
1060 NEXT N
1070 V=V+16
1080 NEXT P

1090 PR I NT " i$«l>JIIIHIIIIIIBPR ITE "

1091 PR I NT " MUlllMIlieilllCREATED "

1092 PR I NT " IMeiMlIl!Mi!ll>M«Il!Mi!llllMimiil
PRESS FI"

1893 PRINT"i!li!f||||||MlllFOR MENU"
1094 GOSUB 4000

1099 GET Tf:IF Tf=""THEN 1099

1100 IF TT="r’THEN POKE V+16..0
' POKE V+21.0: GOTO 10

1110 GOTO 1099
2000 PRINT" n" :POKE 53280.0
POKE 5:3281.5

2016 PR I NT" cmidiitkikiikkiwikkii i nsert

AND"

2020 PRiNT":«ii;i«]i*kttkkiiktiHiiti;EMlND"
2030 PRTNT“lli!ftWliiiiiiMWiIE!LRNK TA
PE"

2040 PR I NT " 9ie!Mi!Mi!»>»»Pi»»»iiiFRESS
aar:wapBAR"

2050 GET .3$: IF CT=""THEN 2050
2060 IF C:#=" "THEN 20'71

2070 GOTO 2050

2071 PR I NT "

E OF :5F'RITE"

2872 INPUT":?Wf»i|iWTO BE SAVED" UT
2073 PRINT";

2080 OPEN 1.1.l.JT
2090 CMD l:FOR H=0 TO 62
2100 PRINT B<H>:NEX.T H
2110 PRINT#1:CLOSE 1
2120 PR I NT " I79I«l«M8M«I(M4li!»kkiiMiti»ri'OU
HAVE NOW SAVED"

2130 PRINT "mi
2140 PRINT"»I
EHU"

iPRESSFl FOR M

2150 C€T X$='“‘THEH 215u

2160 IF 10

2170 GOTO 2150

4000 V=:53243 : POKE '•■’+21 .• 4 : POKE 2042.. 13
POKE V+41.. 1

40105 FOR QR=0 TO 62 ^ POKE 832+QR.'E<QR>
'riEKT

4010 POKE V+16.. 4:F0KE V+4,. 10
POKE V+5,. 125
4015 RETURN

30000 PRINT''nitF'RESS FI WHEN COMPLETED

30005 JS-

55296 ■■ N=0

30010 POK

£ -..IS.. 1

30020 IF

.J:3<55296 THEN -JS

=55296

30021 IF

1 THEN 30

056

30022 GET

DT:IF 1)$="

" THEN

30022

30023 IF

1!

-4

X

m

GuSUB

60Ei50

: GOTO

30100

30024 IF

.D$- '*2 THEN

8U3UB

60050

: GOTO

.;'0200

30025 IF

” TriEH

GOGiUB

6 210 5 pi

: GOTO

30300

30026 IF

01-"', “ THEN

uOSUB

60Gi50

:OOTO

Y L."' 4 G*

.:«yu2 7 IF

"’"THEN

GOSUB

6006£i

: GOTO

.NZiGNO

3002S IF

DT~"i,‘'THEN

GOTO

870

30030 GOT

'0 30022

30056 IF

GEEK •. GooEU

^^113

THEN GOSUB

3050■U

OTO 30108

30057 IF

PEEK(56320)

-123

THEN GOSUB

0050 • Ij

iOTD 30200

30053 IF

i'*'EEK (56320

'==126

THEN GOSUB

3050■G

OTO 30300

30059 IF

PEEK < 56320

= 125

THEN GOSUB

0050•C

Nj i U •2-8480

39060 IF

PEEf -. 56320)

= 111

THEIT GOSUB

00601 • GO 70 :i0i50i0

30070 GET B$aF BTHEN V=0
GOTO 8701

30080 GOTO 30020

301001 IF PEEKCJS+N-54272> = 160 THEN PO
Kll J 8 ■ UUTU 80 10O
36101 POKE T3+N,8

30105 IF T3i-W=5611'3 THEN POKE JS+W,. 1
GOTO 30020

30106 W=W+1

30110 IF 0=^24 I HEN .fS^JS+40: N=0
301201 poke JS+W,. 1
30140 GOTO 30020

3012010 IF PEEK'- JS+W--54272> = 160 THH-I PO
KE J 8+N-■ 8 ■ bU Tu -j'02.101
30205 POKE ,,IS+W.. 3
30205 POKE -JS+W.. 8

3021-0 IF ..I3+W=55296 THEN POKE JS+W,!
GOTO 300120

30220

N=W-“1

30230

IF W=-l THEN

30240

POKE -JS+N,. 1

3025G1

GOTO 30020

30300

POKE JS+NtS

30310

IF PEEKaJS+H'

KE

JS+N.-6 HjOTU

30320

J3=-iS-40a‘F

JSt

•4 0

30-330

POKE JS+N-1

■30340

GOTO :30H:t20

30408

POKE JS+N4B

33410

IF PEEK<-J-3+-N

KE

.j!“l ri4 ,= O • 80 j U

30420

Jc-JS+Ae;IF .

J3-

■40

3043G1

■*-' r." -1 i".-j

FOi-.E .JS4-N.. 1

! r\ M '1 M iTi * T* Ci

36500

*JU { U Z*kJK}c4^U

IF PEEk(-J3a-I4'

• • r“

l';3-rN--542 32.-8

■ 50

iTO 30020

30505

POKE J3:-i-N-54.

= 1601 THEN PO

■ 00TO 3i0620i

301080 POK-E 5 .;'2i30i ■ 0 ■ F UKE 532til.'0i
50805 F RI NT" rMfiMJIsSiSliiiiiBISirT'ClU HLLREfi
DY HHYE"

50010 FRINT",i!il!»»l««liiiiplilFl SPRITE IN "
50020 F RI Ml" ,E®isSlii«&iEsti«iei‘1EM0RV "

50030 r-RIrTT'‘»l!Mf]iiai5»»S3»»tSSiiriO YOU WISH
TO"

50640 FRIHT"Mt!»Bii0!|5ms»l!iiaiS SRVE IT?
OR"

50658 l-RiMr".4i;i!l*il6iailiiBtE3l!iil!lJ12“ MfiKE HNOT
HER?" -

500601 GET V$ 'IF V$=""THEH 500160
50070 IF tT='' 1"TH£N ^0001
50880 11- V$="2"TriEH 60000
50090 GOTO 5010601
601011-10 Ri-ll-i 6*0i0i0ll

60001 -3=0 - fi 111 B 'I. .3:5 > • DIM h < 9 > ^ ‘v‘=0
GOTO 005

68045 KEH#***:F::*****:+#****if5*i
501046 RErHHE*:K£LI? SOUHDi^i*.*#

60047 F #

50050 POKE 54296.. 15:POKE 54276.. 17

60051 POi::E

54273 . :36: POKE 54:

: FOR ri=8

TO llbrOKE 5427:

60055 POfxE

84276• F OKb -542!

50057 -REN-4ii4i

A; Fif

60058 REit4:':i‘

mflEE SOUNIif;f:fif

c< 8 U 5 H R. E f'1

i f■ i4: f if f f if -fi if f f f if

60060 FOKE

-34-29615- F'0K. £ 54 \

60061 F'GKE

54273.^ 36-POKE 54i

• FOR H=0

TO 13-POKE 542GJ

A-iENT H

60062 POKE

54276.-0; FOKE 542:

Software that always lives Up

to its promise

Your computer was made for us.

Fetch

3 NEW
TURBO 64
GAMES
£ 6 ^

EACH

House of Usher

Dare you enter the House of
Usher. Behind each locked
door of this nine room mansion
a different style of arcade action
awaits you.

Ice Hunter

/

/

/.

The wonder penguin is
/ engaged in a desperate
search for diamonds hidden
in a maze of ice cubes, harassed
/ and chased by his arch enemies
( Snowball and Snowbox. His

chances of survival are slim.
Six levels of skill with two
player option.

Ice hunter needs special ice blocks to
build an igloo unaffected by the arctic
sun. He has found the source of the blocks
in a multi level cavern, but can he outwit
the grim inhabitants — the dragons
lions and vicious birds and float the blocks
down the river to construct his dream home
Six levels and two player option.

sea

^Also available on Disk at £9.95

£/VQfy//?/fS. ANIROG SOFTWARE LTD. 29 WEST HILL DARTFORD KENT (0322)92513/8

MAIL ORDER: 8 HIGH STREET HORLEY SURREY 24 HOUR CREDIT CARD SALES HORLEY (02934) 6083
PAYMENT BY CHEQUE P.O. ACCESS/VISA 50p POSTAGE & PACKAGING £2.00 OVERSEAS

mw.2 GO SUB 3000
^V ■ 7 LET hi=0: LET a $ = “5i mon

B INK 7: PRPER 1: BORDER X: C

■LS ■

Q PLOT 4-9,143: INK 5: GO SUE
6000;^

10 PRINT PT 3.S;“PRCE“

11 -LOT 114,143; GO SUB 6000

12 PRINT PT 3,15.;7-EEKER“ ^

14 PRINT PT 1,2S: INK 6;”Bu:'.-:P
T 2,23:“SPH”

15 PRINT- PT 3,3: INK 4:"The Ob
A e c t 0 f -3pa ce SeeKe r " is to f i n

d t h £ h i d d £ n P r i Z £ 5 h 0 !.tl H b 4

t h £ a r r 0 w s a t t h £ s t a r t o f £ a c h
frama. Pvoid

th£ bo l la rds ('T INK 3; C:HR$ 143:
INK 4; ") a n d t h £ £ d g £ o f t h £ s c r £
an , “

30 PRINT PT IS . 12; INK. S : ‘‘HI 3
CORE’’ : PT IS . 12 : h i : ” bu “ i a $

43 PPUSE 0

49 BOkl?€R 0: PPPER 0: INK 7: C

.LS ' -f

50 LET S =0 ; LET I z =3; LET di-if
=20

51 LET i=INT (RND^IS)+2; LET P
= INT i:RND*23) -fP

52 LET ti=5O0: LET £=11; LET b
= 15: LET di f :=4

99 CLS

100 FOR n=0 TO dirf

101 LET M=INT i;RND*2S) 42

102 LET :' = INT (RND^IS: 42

103 BEEP .005:0

104 BEEP .005 : o 420

Invisible prizes hide in this sector of space. You are ru
the clock to find it. All that lies in your way are thy^
Space Bollards — avoid them at all cost! So
that Capt. Kirk would think twice about ari^|ji||^^

GAME

CONTROLS

' 105 PRINT PT x=u: INK 3: PPPER
0; CHR$ 14-3
105 NEXT n

110 PLOT 10.il

111 DRpy 0=153

112 DRPU 233.0

113 DRPU 0 : -i53
114- DRpy -233.0

120 PRINT PT i.0; INK S: BRIGHT
l;CHR$ 14-9

121 PRINT PT 21. P; INK 6; BRIGH
T i ;CHR$ 94

130 PPUSE 20; PRINT PT i . 0;
PRINT PT 21 .P : == ■■

150 PRINT PT a.b; INK 5;CHR± ii
43-i-d i r j

151 FOR n=0 TO 1

152 BEEP .009 . (20-a} -j-20: BEEP .
01, (20-a ) 4-10 ; BEEP . 007 , (20-a ) 4-1

'153 NEXT n

159 LET n=CODE (INKEY*)

150 IF INKEY$=-“ then GO TO 176

161 IF ri>101 THEN LET dir=n-10S

162 IF n<101 THEN LET dir=n-96

163 IF dir>4 OR dir<l THEN LET
d i r = 4

164 IF n=103 THEN GO TO 5000
176 IF a=i PND b=P THEN GO SUB

2500

1S0 LET ti=ti-l

161 IF INKEY* <>■■ •= THEN LET ti=t
i -1

162 PRINT PT 0.6; FLP5H l:'‘TIhE

flpsh 0y= “:ti; print Pt 0.17

: FLPSH 1, INVERSE 1; ■’SCORE”: FL
PSH 0: ” ” ;s

163 IF ti=0 THEN GO TO 1000

190 PRINT PT a.b;” ”

191 IF dir=l THEN LET b=b-l

192 IF dir=2 THEN LET b = b-i-l

193 IF dir=3 THEN LET a=a 4 -l

194 IF dir=4 THEN LET a=a-l

195 IF SCREEN$ (a.bj<>" ” THEN
GO TO 1000

200 GO TO 150

1000 LET li=li-1;

1001 IF li>0 THEN PRINT PT 11.7;
li:” lives left”: FOR n=3 TO 20;

BEEP .009,-20: BEEP .01.-15- NE
XT H: PPUSE 0; PPUSE 50; BEEP .0
. 1,20

1500 IF I1=0 THEN GO TO 5000
1996 PPUSE 0:

1999 PRINT PT 21, P; INK 5; BRIGH
T 1;C:HR$ 94

2001 PRINT PT i.0: INK 6: BRIGHT
i;CHR$ 149
-PL

PPUSE 50
BEEP .002.n;

2002 PPUSE 100; GO TO 52

2501 LET S =S 4- ( I i * t i ) ; LET d i f f =d
iff*1.5

2502 PRINT PT 11,1: ‘’UELL DONEi YO
U FOUND THE PRIZE.’

2503 FOR n =0 TO 60;

NEXT n

2504 PPUSE 0; GO TO 51

3000 RESTORE 3020

3001 FOR n=U3R ”a” TO USR ”f”^7

3002 REPD 9: POKE n.Q; NEXT n

3020 DPTP 6.31:63.210.63.31.6.0

3021 DPTP 0.96.246.252.75.252 ■. 24
6.96

3022 DPTP 106.254.236.106.124.40
.16.16

3023 DPTP 6,6.20.62.54.119.127.5

4.

3024 DPTP 60.24.153.255.255.153.
24.60

3025 DPTP 0.6.4.126.4.6.0.0

3026 RETURN.

5000 CLS : PRINT PT 6.6; INK 3;”
YOU SCORED ”:s:” PTS.

5050 FOR n=0 TO 60; BEEP .002.n;
NEXT n

5070 IF s::hi THEN PRINT PT 11.6;
FLPSH 1; : ■•HISCORE”: ” *^4

•- LET hi=S; PRINT PT 13,6 ; ” I
NPUT your NPME”: INPUT aS
5075 FOR n=0 TO 500: NEXt n
b0S0 PRINT 15.6:” PGPIN^” I

F INKEY$ = ”Y OR INKEY S = ” >4” THEN
GO TO 5500

5365*IF INKEY$=”” THEN GO TO 536
0

5090 BORDER 1; PPPER 1; INK 3; C

LS ; FOR n=l TO 363 STEP 5; LET

fn =n 160*21

5095 PLOT 126.67

5100 DRpy COS *63.SIN fii *33

5115 BEEP .009.n/4-20

5120 NEXT n

5200 PRINT PT 4.12: FLPSH 1; INK
6:”Bye-bye!”; PPUSE 3; RPNDOMIZ
E USR 0

5500 PPUSE 0; PRINT PT IS . 6: ”INS
TRUCTIONS?”; PPUSE 3: INPUT INKE
Y$: IF INKEYS=”y” OR INKEYS=”Y”
THEN GO TO 6

5999 GO TO 53

6000 DRpy 0 .-15 . • PI*3• /3; DRpy 9
,23,PI*2/3: DRpy 3.16.(PI*3j/3:
DRpy -9,-23.21*2/3; RETURN

A NEW DIMENSION IN
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NOW AVAILABLE

For SPECTRUM, CBM 64

COMING SOON

Versions for BBC, Electron, Amstrad, Oric & others

April 14th 1912. On her maiden voyage
the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank taking
with her a vast fortune in gold.

Your mission is to raise sufficient
finance and equip an expedition to find the
Titanic and it’s lost gold.

Easy!! Well it could be but with 460
possible locations for the gold you

V

DEALERS: Contact your normal distributor or ring us direct.

need to watch your divers’ air supply.

You begin your search when suddenly
.. .well that would be telling wouldn’t it.

Comes with Currah Micro Speech
(Spectrum version only).

Number one in our new range of games
designed for family enjoyment.

Fantastic value for money.

R.R.P. £7.95 inc.VAT

PROGRAMMERS: Send us you latest quality program for
evaluation NOW.

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Tel (0452) 502819

/olutionise this arcane skill. arrived

ves them the twice-over .. •

and chisel programming
and delivered unto them a
remarkable writing tool.
Its creative potential is
enormous. The CBM 64
version, to be available
shortly, is even more excit¬
ing as it offers greater use
of colour and sound as well
as some much needed
access to the interpreter
(what I wouldn’t do to
dump that ‘Have a nice
day!’ tag lifie). Interest¬
ingly while the entire col¬
lection has been compiled
on The Quill, none look
alike. They’re all infuriat¬
ingly individual. All run
on the 48K Spectrum.

The Adventures Of
Barsak The Dwarf is pro¬
bably the least intersting
of the bunch. Assuming
the role of a squat axe-
wielding dwarf (no great
stretch of the imagination
needed there, eh Burton?)
you must attempt to
recover some fabled treas¬
ures of the underworld.
Original indeed! The
treatment is generally
lacklustre and the game-
play dull. Even worse
there’s the dreaded ‘star¬
vation’ routine to contend
with. You can barely open

IT WAS WITH a disgrun¬
tled grimace that I finally
admitted defeat. I’d tried
until my paws were numb
and my eyes radish-red,
but all to no avail. The
Gold collection remained
intact. An arrogant pile
of unyielding plastic.
Quietly I wished a plague
of German tourists would
descend upon Gilsoft’s
Glamorgan H.Q.

I’d fully intended to fly
through the first official
(sic) collection of Quill
adventures, despatching
both praise and potatoes to
all in equal amounts, but
t’was not to be. Your hum¬
ble adventurer (I use the
term loosely) was soon
bogged down in mire of
mystery. Defeat was in¬
evitable. I went down
smiling.

The Quill is clearly the
single most useful utility
currently available for the
potential Spectrum games
designer (although with
both Scope2 and The Dun¬
geon Creator awaiting
appraisal company could
be on the way). Almost
singlehandedly it’s res¬
cued would-be authors
from the rigours of stone

a door before being con¬
fronted by some dumb “I’m
awful hungry (rumble)”
message. Fail to find some
eats by the 17th turn and
you unceremoniously kick
the can. This exact same
routine is detailed in the
Quill tutorial which can
only indicate an immense
lack of imagination on the
part of the authors. It
bodes ill for the rest of the
piece.

Devil’s Island also
appears to crib heavily
from the Quill manual.
Indeed the first location
almost duplicates the util¬
ity’s built in example!
However such cheek is for¬
given as it quickly
becomes obvious that
author Colin Smith has
crafted an ingenious and
devious adventure here.
You begin incarcerated in
some dark dank cell on the
legendary penal colony
and must gamely break
jail and bid for freedom
through the treacherous
tropical rainforest. Neatly
scripted with some humor¬
ous asides and ferocious
puzzles. Island threatens
to become a major head¬
ache. It appears to be the
toughest adventure in the
collection.

Mindbender is another
riot in cell block 11 opus.
Having been warped
through a telephone wire

first REPORT

DORKSL^YER!

Steve Keaton's Adventure Column

DORKSLAYER!

CONTINUED

THECOiDCOLLECTlOlV

48 K Spectrum

bv Paul Styles

quirky and only really dis¬
tinguished by a puritani¬
cal swear routine. All in
all overtly zany and unre¬
markable.

Africa Gardens on the
other hand is something of
a gem. Ignore the breezy
summer hols cover art¬
work and prepare yourself
for an excellent old dark
house mystery, full of
creaking doors and reek¬
ing cobwebs. Beautifully
written and garishly
coloured it’s (to my mind)
the best game in the collec¬
tion. Indeed it looks set to
be fave of the year, which
is no mean feat consider¬
ing the competition.
Author Tom Davies has
even used the Quill to
build up some quite
respectable graphics! Yes,
it can be done folks! Trap¬
ped inside an old dark
hotel you must solve the
mystery of the missing
guests before joining their
forgotten ranks! While
creeping tremulously about
the ground floor I fully
expected to bump into a
deranged Norman Bates

and his flock of screeching
violinists! I dread to think
what waits upstairs once I
light the candle . . .

Spyplane is another
remarkble effort. This
time the adventure system
has been used to create, of
all things, a flight simula¬
tor! In it you become cap¬
tain of a long range
reconnaissance plane
intent on gathering infor¬
mation on an enemy battle
fleet bobbing about some
15000 feet below. On hand
there’s a brace of equip¬
ment to help including
sonar, radar, camera and
Ionisation detectors.
Thankfully there’s an
accompanying leaflet
detailing the use of this hi-
tech junk. You even get a
map although this proved
of little use — I spend the
majority of my air time
careering into fog
enshrouded mountains.

It’s all incredibly inven¬
tive and rather puzzling.
Which I guess is the idea.

And so goes Gilsoft’s
Volume one. A truly cred¬
itable collection of pure
text adventures which’ll
no doubt see me pulling
out nostril hairs for many
months to come.

Games:

BARSAK THE DWARF (K)
DEVIL'S ISLAND (KKK)
MINDBENDER (KK)
MAGIC CASTLE (KK)
DIAMOND TRAIL (K)
AFRICA GARDENS (KKK)
SPYPLANE (KKK)

Maker: Gilsoft
Machine: 48K Spectrum
Price: £5.95

by a unintelligible Welsh¬
man (painful), you’re cas¬
ually entombed in an
underground prison com¬
plex, captive of a dastardly
bunch intent on world
domination. Streaked
with humour and free sud¬
den death routines and
cheap-shot mazes. Mind-
bender is quite a lark. For
example those that dare
ask for help are chastised
with a terse: “What do you
think this is . . . The Hob¬
bit?” message. Expect
more info as I wade deeper.

Older Gold

An older program now
repackaged in the distinc¬
tive Gold livery is Magic
Castle. The title of course
promises all manner of
hackneyed cliches. You
load up expecting the
usual potpourri of trolls,
demi-demons, monsters
and maidens but (sur¬
prise) And only exploding
footballs, grouchy coppers
and obstinate suitcases.
It’s hardly a serious affair.
There’s a certain amount
of sudden death involved
and not one but two exas¬
perating mazes so to avoid
total frustration save your
position frequently. Some¬
thing of a dark horse I’d
say.

Another elder relative is
Diamond Trail, in which
you hunt down the miss¬
ing Sinclive diamond.
Like Castle it’s a little

WHAT DO YOU THIIMK?

FINALLY, If you have any favourite adventures why
not write in and tell us (a) what they are, and (b) why
you like them. Perhaps you've unearthed some curi¬
ous bugs you can share or maybe you're just plain
stuck somewhere! Whatever the reason, write in. We
wanna hear from you.

HI-TECH

yTN BERNARD TURNER Motorolas blithely on with his series

/ KA o \f (^\\( 1 on programming the Wonder Chip mnemonic-style. Don't

o y ® 'mnemonic'is?Then JMPto another

TO COMMUNICATE with the
outside world Input/Output
(I/O) chips are required by
any computer. These are
normaily used as part of the
keyboard/ cassette port,
video display chip, floppy
disc and/or RS232 port hard¬
ware, depending on how the
micro has been designed. In
68000-ba$ed machines these
chips are ''memory-
mapped" and their internal
registers are accessed as
though they were just
another part of the memory.
This method is probably
familiar to those of you who
use 6502/ 6800 or 6809 chips,
but may be a little foreign to
those among you who use
the ZSO and its "IN" and
"OUT" instructions.

Instructions tell the MPU
what to do and are held as
numbers stored in memory.
The 68000, not being a 8-bit
processor, reads instruc¬
tions from memory in two-
byte (word) chunks. The
instruction read determines
the functions performed as
denoted by the particular
number. Numbers are not
very easy to remember, so
for us humans the instruc¬
tions are given names to
indicate their function; these
are called "Mnemonics"
(Memory aids). It is these
mnemonics that you type in
when writing a 68000 (or any
other) assembly language
program. The assembler's
job is to read your typed-in
code (source program), con¬
verting the mnemonics back
into the corresponding num¬
bers which they represent.
When the assembly is com¬
plete the MPU can then
directly process the assem¬
bled numbers. This assem¬
bled program is called the
"Object program".

All 68000 instructions are
an even number of bytes in
length. Similarly all 68000
instructions must be placed
on an even numbered mem¬
ory address boundary, due
to there being no AO address
line (do NOT confuse with the
AO address REGISTER), if the

instruction falls on an odd
memory address then an
Address Exception will occur.

Not only are Instructions
and I/O chips part of the
memory but so also are Data.

If you program in Basic, Pas¬
cal or a similar high level lan¬
guage then you will not have
concerned yourself with
where and how your data is
physically placed, or how to
retrieve it. When program¬
ming in an assembly lan¬
guage this is now part of your
jurisdiction. Data contained
in memory is held only as
numbers. It is how you look
at and use data which deter¬
mines how it appears to the
person using your machine
code program. Accessing of
data is often termed
"Addressing" — or produc¬
ing different ways of deter¬
mining where the data is
obtained from. The 68000
provides the following
methods of addressing*

EFFECTIVE ADDRESS
MODES NOTATION

Data register
Direct Dn

Address register
Direct An

Address register
Indirect (An)

Address register
Indirect with
postincrement (An)“h
Address register
Indirect with
predecrement -(An)

Address register
Indirect with
displacement d(An)

Address register
Indirect with
Index and

displacement d(An,Xi)

Program

Counter Relative d(PC)

Program

Counter Relative

with index d{PC,Xi)

Absolute Abs.

Immediate #

(N.B. "n" can be 0 to 7.)

Implicit, also known as
Implied or Inherent, ad¬
dressing is also incorporated
in the 68000 architecture. It is

the addressing mode that is
used when using instruc¬
tions such as 'RTS' (Return
from Subroutine). Although
the Program Counter is
affected, it is not explicitly
stated in the instruction as
the addressing mode to use.

Generally speaking the
format of a 68000 assembly
language instruction is in
three parts (there are excep¬
tions). The mnemonic and its
associated data size indica¬
tor constitute the first part.
The mnemonic states which
function you require of it
After the mnemonic and a full
stop the data size indicator is
placed. It denotes by a "B",
"W", "L", or "S" what size
data to act upon. The two
parts following the mne¬
monic and Data Size Indi¬
cator are separated by a
comma and are known as the
operands. The first operand
of the instruction states
where to obtain the data to
act upon. This is called the
"Source" operand. The
second operand of the
assembly language instruc¬
tion states where the proc¬
essed data will be placed
when the instruction has
finished. It is known as the
"Destination" operand.

The Size Indicator states
the number of bits associ¬
ated with the instructions
data: "B" for byte (8-bit)
sized, "W" for word sized (16-
bit), "L" for long word sized
(32-bit), and "S" indicates
short addressing when used
with a branch instruction (16-
bits). if the Size Indicator is
omitted then the assembler
should default to word size.

Operands, source and
destination, can all use any
of the applicable adressing
methods (or "modes") stated
above, but you will find that
there are some restrictions,
depending on the instruction
itself — such as having the
use of any adress mode for
only one of the operands.
That Is, you may use any
address mode for source OR
destination operand, but
possibly be forced to use a

register for the other oper¬
and. These restrictions will
become clearer when the
Instructions themselves are
discussed.

Okay, we now have an idea
of obtaining and storing
processed data, but what can
we do with It? Firstly each
instruction will fall into a
particular group, those
being: control, arithmetic,
shift and rotate, bit manipu¬
lation or logical functions.
Secondly you'll find that If
you are used to long state¬
ments In BASIC such as

•LETD=(A-FB)*(A-B)#

then you can forget all about
that! Small is beautiful! The
process will have to be bro¬
ken up into small steps such
as:

•LETC=A+B«

•LETD=A-B#

•LET D=C * D#

We'll now attempt to sim¬
ulate this In 68000 code!

If the example below is
considered with the 'parallel'
ofDI synonymous with "A",
D2 with "B", D3 with "C", D4
with "D" then It may become
clearer. (If all those vitamins
don't make you clearer noth¬
ing will!)

EXAMPLE

.BEGIN

M0VE.W D1,D3 store "A" in "C"

ADD.W D2,D3 sum "B" TO "C", "'C'
calculated"

M0VE.W D1,D4 store "A" in "D"

SUB.W D2,D4 subtract "B" from "a"
contained in "D"," 'D' calculated"

MULS D3,D4 multiply "c" by "D" plac¬
ing result in "D"," 'D' calculated" .FINISH

JMP FINISH stop processing falling
through.

This source listing con¬
tains four fields (areas) on
each line. Reading across
from left to right we have a
'label' field used to assign

HI-TECH

values that the assembler
and programmer use instead
of actual addresses. This is
so that the program is easily
reassembled in different
locations. Secondly we have
the mnemonic field and its
attendant Data Size Opera¬
tor. In the third field we find
that we have two pieces of
information for the most part,
namely the source and des¬
tination operands (the
exception in this example
being the JMP instruction).
Finally In the fourth field we
have comments. Comments
are not part of the finally-
assembled object program.
They are there, like REMS in
BASIC, merely as an aid to
the programmer.

Quickly skipping over the
label "'begin" wecometothe
instruction "MOVE". This
instruction is one of the most
used instructions, especially
if you are interested in doing
character graphics on a bit¬
mapped screen, say for
example on the Sinclair QL.
The MOVE instruction comes
in several varieties; the one
concerning us here istermed
by Motorola as "Move data
from Source to Destination".
What it does Is to obtain data
from the place indicated by
the source operand — in this
case from the Data register 1
(D1) — and place it where the
Destination Operand dic¬
tates. In this example it is
placed in Data Register 3
(D3). You should be careful
when using the MOVE
instruction, because it over¬
writes without thought
whatsoever for what Is con¬
tained In the Destination
location. MOVE can also
cause disaster if used when
trying to read from I/O chips
(e.g. 6850 ACIA) that clear
their internal states when
read. (To overcome this
problem there is another
instruction called MOVER
which we will discuss later.)
The MOVE Instruction does
not affect the source oper¬
and at all, but it does affect
the flags in the processor's
condition code register. It
always clears the Overflow
and Carry Flags to zero. It sets
the Negative Flag to "1" if
the result Is negative, other¬
wise it clears It to zero. It sets
the Zero Flag to "1" If the
result Is zero, else it clears
the flag to zero. The Extended
Flag Is unaffected. You may
also like to note that the size
of the data moved is word
sized; because of this it will
not affect the two most sig¬
nificant bytes In either source
or destination. Other sizes

yes

yes

yes^

no

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

no

yes

no

yes

no

permissible are Byte and
Long Word. Permissible
Address Modes are for

MODE source destination

Dn
An
(An)

(An)4-
-(An)
d(An)
d(An,Xi)

Absolute
d(PC)
d(PC,Xi)

Immediate

*Byte size not allowed.

ADD, like MOVE, has two
operands, source and desti¬
nation. This instruction is
best thought of as 'sum
source to destination' — that
is, add (in binary format) the
source to the destination and
place the result in the desti¬
nation. In this example the
size operand is set to 'word',
thus only the lower two bytes
of the registers D3 and D2
are used. Similar to the
MOVE instruction described
above, the Source Operand
is read only, and thus does
not change. The Destination
will contain the result of its
previous contents and the
contents of the Source Oper¬
and, summed together.
Those of you out there who
have programmed the 6502
and are familiar with its 'ADC'
(Add With Carry) instruction
may like to note that the Carry
Flag is not added into the
result when using this 68000
instructions. Thus the Carry
Flag does not affect the result
placed in the destination
operand. After the ADD has
been done the Condition
Code Registers flags are set
as follows, depending on the
result:

FLAG SET CLEARED

N Negative If zero or
positive

Z Zero If not zero.

V Overflow If no
Overflow occurred.

C Carry Generated If
Answer can be
contained in
Destination.

X Copies the C flag.

When using the ADD
instruction one of the oper¬
ands MUST use a data reg¬
ister as one of the operands.
If you are using it as the Des¬
tination Operand then any
Effective Address mode is
applicable for the Source
Operand (including any data
register). If you don't use a
data register as a Destination
Operand, you MUST there¬
fore use a Data Register as

the Source Operand. If this is
the case then only the
following Effective Address
Modes are allowable for the
Destination Operand:

Modes Allowed when the

Destination Operand isn't a
Data Register:

(An)

(An)

(An)+

(A

-(An)

-(

d(An)

d(An,Xi)

Absolute

d)

The Second MOVE is the
same as the first MOVE
except that Data Register D4
and D1 are used.

The Subtraction instruc¬
tion takes the Source from
the Destination Operand,
placing the result in the Des¬
tination. Like the ADD
instruction it is carried out in
binary arithmetic. The
instruction has identical
restrictions to the ADD
instruction, regarding the
necessity to use a Data Reg¬
ister as one of its operands.
Flags affect, and are affected,
In an identical manner to the
ADD instruction. In this
example D2 is subtracted
from D4. The result is placed
In D4.

MULS is the 68000 mne¬
monic that represents the
Instruction to do a signed
multiply of the Source Oper¬
and and a Data Register,
which must be used as the
Destination Operand. All
Effective Address modes
(except An) are allowed for
the Source Operand. The
instruction takes both oper¬
and's data as signed 16-bit
numbers, producing a signed
32-blt result which is placed
in the Destination Operand.
In the example above the D3
register is multiplied with the
D4 register. The result is
placed in D4. No flags affect
the operation of this instruc¬
tion, but all of the flags in the
Condition Code Register
(except the X Flag) are
affected by the result. The
flags are affected in the
following manner:

FLAG

N Set if the result is nega¬
tive, cleared if the result is
zero or greater then it is
cleared.

Z Set if the result is zero. If
it isn't zero then it is cleared.
V Always cleared in zero.

C Always cleared to zero.

1 have included a JMP
Instruction at the end of the
program to stop the proces¬
sor continuing further Into
memory; If it did so then It
would try to execute unin¬

tended instructions that the
memory contain thus it acts
as a 'safety net', not allowing
processing to fall through.
The JMP instruction directs
the processing from a posi¬
tion In memory to a position
indicated by its operand, i.e.
It 'jumps' the processing to a
new location. The assembler
will substitute the value of a
label as an instruction's
operand. A label is given a
value by typing the label's
name In the label field. In this
example of JMP we have a
label 'Finish' as the operand.
The JMP instruction requires
an address to jump for its
operand. Immediately before
the instruction, in the label
field, 'finish' has been typed.
This allocates 'finish' the
value according to its loca¬
tion. Anywhere 'finish' is
used in the source program
the assembler will substitute
the value it has been allo¬
cated. The assembler will
therefore generate the
address of the JMP instruc¬
tion as the label's value.
When the instruction is exe¬
cuted it will jump back to the
start of the JMP instruction
and then execute the JMP
again — creating an endless
loop. If you run this program
you will find that the only way
to reclaim the machine is
either to press the reset
switch or jiggle the power.
The JMP instruction is not
affected, and has no effect,
on the Condition Code Flags.
Generally a preferable
method of ending a program
is to use an 'RTS', 'RTE' or
'RTR' instruction to return
you to the calling program.
We shall be looking at these
in future articles.

RECAP

We have briefly looked at I/O
Devices as part of the mem¬
ory map. We saw that 68000
instructions are formed from
a Mnemonic, data size oper¬
ator and the mnemonics
operands (if the instruction
requires them). That Oper¬
ands could be up to two in
number and that they are
termed the Source and Des¬
tination. Following this it was
pointed out that there were
restrictions on permissible
addressing modes for oper¬
ands and that the restrictions
were dependent on the parti¬
cular instruction. The format
of an assembly language
source line was discussed
and finally a small example
was explained. Continuing
the series we will look at
address modes in more
detail.

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FORBIDDEN FOREST

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FLIGHT SIMULATION
CHINESE JUGGLER

Software Projects
Digital

Richard Wilcox

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Psion

Ultimate

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Ocean

Quicksilva

Anirog

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PSS

Bug-Byte

Abbex

Llamasoft

Beyond

Ultimate

Starzone

Quicksilva

Cosmi

Software Projects

Imagine

Quicksilva

Interstellar

Microsphere

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SP

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ATICATAC
(Ultimate)

bumping buggies

(Bubble Bus)
CHUCK-E-EGG
(A&F Software)
COLDITZ

(Phipps Associates)
CYLON ATTACK
(A&F Software)

fighter pilot
(D igital Integration)

Compiled by MRIB Computer.

(Dedicated

Consoies)

0(1) POLE POSITION (Atari)

0 (4) PITFALL 2 (Activision)

0(3) SUPER COBRA (Parker)

^(5) MARIO BROTHERS (Atari)

0(11) FROSTBITE (Activision)

0(2) SPACE SHUHLE (Activision)

0(6) POPEYE (Parker)

0 (9) DEATH STAR BAHLE (Parker)

0 (8) ENDURO (Activision)

0(7) MS PAC MAN (Atari)

0(10) Q-BERT (Parker)

S (i5) FROGGER (Parker)

(13) PHOENIX (Atari)

0(23) RIVER RAID (Activision)

0(16) DONKEY KONG (CBS/Coleco)
0(18) DIG DUG (Atari)

0(12) GALAXIAN (Atari)

0(14) BAHLE ZONE (Atari)

0(22) BIG BIRD EGG CATCH (Atari)
0(20) PITFALL (Activision)

0(26) SPACE INVADERS (Atari)

0(-) KANGAROO (Atari)

0(-) ALPHA BEAM (Atari)

@(17) SNOOPY VS THE RED BARON (Atari)
@(-) DECATHLON (Activision)

@(19) MOON PATROL (Atari)

@(25) COOKIE MONSTER MUNCH (Atari)
@(29) SMURFS (CBS/Coleco)

@ (-) WIZARD OF WOR (CBS/Coleco)
@(24) TUTANKHAM (Parker)

Compiled by MRIB Computer.

irn mail

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(Anirog)

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(Phipps Associates)
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(Bubble Bus)

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JET PAC
(Ultimate)
KRAKATOA
(Abbex)

megawarz

(Paramount)

Well MIGHT RUNNER

(Paramount)
PILOT 64
(Abbex)

rally speedway

(Anirog)

test Match

(CRL)

TERRY WATTS INTERVIEVJ

TERRY WATTS, star K-TEL
programmer, admits that he’s
not only a veteran of the Rock
and Roll generation, but an
uncontrollable manic enthu¬
siast.

Terry’s arrival is best
equated with that of the fire¬
ball that suddenly zaps across
the screen in his game. City
Attak. Swarthy, bright-eyed
and mustachioed, he has a
wiry dancer’s frame that has
turned its way through many
a tango in his other life as a
dance teacher.

A Dance Teacher??

So how did the Suave
Southender get program¬
ming?

“A dead giveaway of the
manic enthusiast is fascina¬
tion with gadgetry. Com¬
puters seemed like a gadget
par excellence. I just had to
have a go. So I built one.”

A few months later, Quick-
silva found themselves with
Quintic Warrior, a Vic-20
best-seller.

CLASSICS

Terry wants to write clas¬
sics — games that are totally
absorbing time after time.
“Some games simply prey on
your ego,” explains Terry.
“You are compelled to keep
playing out of sheer frustra¬
tion, but you don’t actually
like them.” Terry has written
two very sophisticated games
for K-Tel, Odyssey and City
Attak, which certainly prove
his pudding. We asked him
for the recipe.

“I don’t start by trying to
think up original ideas. I play
for hours, searching for a
‘hook’. A movement, perhaps,
only lasting a few seconds —
but one that you want to keep
doing again and again. That’s
my trigger to a train of
thought — and I’m off!”

Mistakes can also be a
source of inspiration. Should
you get shot whilst playing
City Attak, observe the flick¬
ering tongues of flame that

You don't have to be 13 years old
with zits to be a whizz-kid. TERRY
WATTS, K-TEL'S ace code-
goader, is a withered 42, for
example. AND a former Ballroom
Dance champion. How unlikely a
combination is that? NICKY
XIKLUNA investigates...

^ engulf your prone craft. Real-
; istic, huh? Terry stumbled
across this effect when he for¬
got to terminate a lightning
flash. It combined with
: another character, and the
H resulting sprite sparkled
I alluringly. “Eureka!” cried
I Terry, for he had Discovered
^ Fire.

^ Being a little older than the
common garden whizz kid has
■ its problems. Running a busy
? dance studio and a young
family take up a lot of time.

? Terry’s favorite program-
' ming hours are midnight to
6 am. (Nothing unusual
there — Ed.) His young son
" ‘persuaded’ him to become
j nocturnal in order to avoid
fi distractions. Whilst finishing
a complex game, Terry was
r distracted by the boy. “Look,
? Daddy!” said Simon, bran¬
dishing an electrical plug and
beaming with pride. The
: whole program vanished
^ down the tube. Horrified, I
asked Terry what he did about
it.

I “Patted him on the head,”
said Terry. “Hard.”

But Terry also finds advan-
^ tage in extra years. “I’m not
as easily distracted as a 19-
year-old. The young haven’t
■ tasted disappointment, and
' don’t realise just how hard it
is to succeed. You’ve got to be
completely set on what you’re
doing. The most important
thing is never to give up.” No
. doubt manic enthusiasm
? helps.

ENGINEER

Terry had no formal edu¬
cation. He informed his
; careers advisors that he was
going to be a television
engineer. He was offered a
choice of jobs: road sweeper or
park attendant.

Our hero nevertheless
5 managed to become a tele-
: vision engineer, but failed to
^ And the glamorous life he’d
^ fbrseen. It was then he began
’ to ruminate on the idea of
rock-stardom.

Unfortunately,
his band consisted
of fifteen guitarists
who preferred to
fantasise about
their impending
stardom than
practise their
instruments.

All except Terry. (But then
he had that old M.E.)

“The only way we could get
through a number was to split
the lead into sections so that
we could take turns in each
doing a little bit.” Mean¬
while, the guy who was sup¬
posed to be playing lead,
mimed.

This glorious group Anally
found themselves a drum¬
mer. It was then that it
dawned on them that none of
them could keep time. They
promptly (and wisely!) dis¬
banded.

Terry grows pensive.
“There are parallels between
what was happening then,
and where we are now in
computing. For a while it
seemed that the world of
music could be anyone’s oys¬
ter. Then the industry became
increasingly professional. In
computing, the importance of
the programmer is dwindling
as P.R., advertising, distri¬
bution, etc. become equally
vital. The competition and the
standards are hotting up all
the time. Professionalism has
become the most important
thing in writing today.”

So what is Terry up to
Professionally? “Oh, it’s a
completely new concept in
game-play.” Well? “All I can
say is that it uses 50K of
machine code, and I’m half
way through it.” This irre¬
pressibly ebullient chappie
had suddenly gone quiet.
Could this perhaps be Terry’s
adventure debut? Could it be
K-Tel’s newly-announced
blockbuster?

At this point he looked at
me solemnly, and placed a
hand over my mike. I can say
no more . . .

i

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WEST

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PANORAMA (H)

An outstanding graphics package for the
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colour fill. PANORAMA (H) uses the full colour
facilities of the Commodore 64. Pictures can include
text and can be stored and incorporated into BASIC
programs. The program is menu-driven and comes
with a comprehensive illustrated instruction booklet.
We use PANORAMA (H) to create all the graphics for
our Commodore 64 games. Need we say more?
Commodore 64 Cassette £17.95 Disk £19.95

SOFTWARE FROM SCOTLAND

lEHT

COMPUTER SYSTEMS

CURRAN BUILDING, 101 ST. JAMES ROAD, GLASGOW G4 ONS TEL 041 552 2128

DISCOUNT ON Mi
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INSTANT ACCESS 24 HOUR ORDERING SERVICE TEL 041-552 2128

, ^To: TALENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS^ .
FREEPOST (no stamp required)
GLASGOW G4 OBR

^ Please send me the following items:

^COMMODORE 64

PANORAMA (H)

PANORAMA (H)

ARCHIPELAGO

ARCHIPELAGO

KALAH

KALAH

WEST

WEST

BBC MODELS

LASER REFLEX
WEST (text only)
ELECTRON

LASER REFLEX
WEST (text only)

Cassette (£17.95)
Disk (£19.95)
Cassette (£ 7.95)
Disk(£ 9.95)
Cassette (£ 7.95)
Disk (£ 9.95)
Cassette (£ 9.95)
Disk (£12.95)

Cassette (£ 7.95)
Cassette (£ 7.95)

Cassette (£ 7.95)
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SPECIAL PRICE ^

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Total (includes postage and packing)

I enclose a PO/Cheque to the value of £ ..

Please debit my ACCESS | |

Name (block capitals).

Address.

.Post Code.

BK1

Signature.Tel..

Please allow up to 28 days for delivery. We shall not bank your
remittance until your order has been despatched.

Dealer enquiries welcome. Contact Veronica Colin on 041-552 2128

Excellent machine though it is in every way, the Acorn BBC Model 'B' is
hampered by lack of on-board RAM memory (as anyone running the BBC
DOS would agree). There are times when every byte can be vital. In this
article, KIM ALOIS explains how to add another 2K in the form of a 'RAM
chip' — to fit in those handy Sideways ROM sockets.

LL

A

T BODGES

DIL Socket (top view)

cut these pins -

SO YOU'VE built your Big K
EPROM Programmer and
probably tried it out. If your
first experiences of EPROM
blowing was anything like
mine you probably had to
erase the chip, alter the soft¬
ware, reblow the chip, kick
the cat and start all over again
when the chip still refused to
work. After about a week all I
had to show was no cat and
a worn out EPROM.

Before you throw the thing
out of the window, there is
an alternative. 2K RAM chips
have pinouts very similar to
EPROMS so they can be
adapted to fit a sideways
EOM. socket and they only
cost about a fiver.

doesn,t sound very
much but 2K means 8 pages
of memory. That's easily
enough to develop utilities
and average sized routines
on and an advantage of
around thirty pounds over an

8K chip certainly makes it
appealing.

First of all the ingredients.
You will need one 28 pin DIL
socket and a Hitachi 6116 LP
2K static RAM chip. These are
available from Technomatic
or Watford Electronics and
should cost about a fiver all
in.

A word of warning about
the chip. This Is what's
known as a CMOS device
which means it's very prone
to static electricity. Your body
is capable of storing static
electricity in enough quan¬
tity to destroy Ihe chi^ so
dgiJttouch the pins until you
have to. Before you do, earth
ymirseff by touching a radm-
tor or cold water pipe.

While on the subject of
warnings the operations
described here mean open¬
ing up the computer. Some
parts inside can be damaged
by rough treatment and
some parts are more than
capable of damaging you if

the machine is still on. So BE
CAREFUL! Turn off and
unplug the computer before
you open it up and treat it
with respect. Neither the
author nor Big K can accept
any responsibility for
damage done to either you
oryour computer by haphaz¬
ard messing around.

One slight problem is that
there am.four more pins on
the EPROM than on the 2K
chip so we need a way of get¬
ting the right pins in the right
holes. Jumping up and down
on It doesn't seem sensible
so we'll cut down the DIL
^d use that as an
adaptor.

Take a look at diagram (1)
ami you can see how the
adaptatfon is made. A minor
amount of solderUng is
required but this should
cause no great problem as
long as you DON'T do it over
the computer. Hot solder
hurts circuit boards.

First of all use a small pair

of side cutters to cut pins 26
and 23 from the DIL socket.
Turn the socket over and
insert the chip into the socket
as shown. Make sure thatthe
notch is at the top and that
the four free holes of the
socket are also at the top.

Insulated

Now comes the soldering.
Thefirst Is a linkfrom thetop
right hand pin of the chip to
thetop right pin of the socket.
The next is a 'flying lead'
from pin 21 of the chip and
should be around six inches
long. Both these leads should
be insulated single core
which you should be ablejj^-
l^tom the same place

il0Wi^OT^msert the chip
which means opening up the
computer. First of all TURN
IT OFF. UNPLUG m

Look at the back and the
underside of the computer.
You should see four screws

the rightmost socket and
should stay there. To get the
Basic chip out gently put the
blade of a screwdriver under
the top end and prise it loose,
then do the same atthe other
end, being careful not to
bend any pins. The chip
should now be loose enough
to ease out by hand. Now
replace it in the rightmost
socket (15) by putting one
end in first then gently eas¬
ing down the other end. A
firm push (not jumping up
and down on it) should see it
into place.

You can now Insert the
RAM chip, already in its
socket, into socket 12. This
should go In the same way
as the Basic chip, with the
notch at the top.

The flying lead which you

soldered to pin 21 has to be
soldered onto the 6522 VIA
chip. That's IC69 as shown in
the diagram and is soldered
onto pin 22 as shown. This
has to be done over the main
circuit board so BE CARE¬
FUL!

Now you should be all set
up and raring to go. Reas¬
sembly is the exact reverse
of dissassembly but remem¬
ber, replace the cover before
you switch on. If everything
is O.K. the computer should
function as normal and
you're ready for the soft¬
ware. This is basically a
skeleton machine code rou¬
tine to put into the RAM chip
so you know that it's work¬
ing. Andy Green's article in
the May Issue of Big K gives
a pretty good Idea of how the

ROMs work so I won't go into
too much detail. The Basic
section contains two rou¬
tines, PROCread and
PROCwrite which you can
use to read and write to the
chip. To read from the chip
at location 'address' use
PROCread(address) and use
PROCwrlte(data,address) to
put the number 'data' Into
location 'address'. Simple
isn't it? Alternatively if you
want to dump a whole sec¬
tion of machine code to RAM
use PROCdump. This routine
dumps the 2K buffer at &3000
to &37FF into paged RAM but
don't forget that the chip
must have a header code at
the start. If you want a differ¬
ent title to the one I've given
then that's in Andy's feature
as well.

marked 'FIX', two on the back
and two on the bottom.
Remove these and top of the
computer will lift off. Remove
the ribbon connector fromthe
keyboard circuit board by
carefully prising it with a
small screwdriver and then
undo the retaining nuts on
either side of the keyboard.
Now unplug the loudspeaker
leads from the main circuit
board, noting which way
round they go and put the
whole lot to one side.

Take a look at diagram (2).
The ROM sockets are the four
in the bottom right num-

extra ROMs then Basic is
12. When

the BBC powers"^irph#~fl|yes
priority to the first chip
reaches, working from the
We would quite like It
to stay that way and so we
shall have to shift the Baaic
chip to the rightmost socket.
Incidentally if you have the
DFS then this chip will be in

400

PHP

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REM4:4; 2K RRM LORf'ER 4:4:

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R E M :4: :4; ;4: :4: :4; 4: :4: C > if 4: :4: :4: if :f 4:

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R E M :f :f ;f 4; :f :f 1984 :f :f :f :t :f :f ;f

460

RTS

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RTS

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60
70
80
90
100
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FES
110
120
130
140
150

160 REM,
200

rii:iDE7

buffer‘i=^&:3000

□SRDRn==&FFB9 : OSRSCI=^:i:F

OSNENL™ ^!.:FFE7

PROCheader

PROC.3.ss^?r<-.ble

PROCdump

END

220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
320
325

330 REM.
335

DEPPROChe-ader
! buf f er*-;-!?.:4i::S0724C
! buff er*i+4 13828024

! buf f er3;+s :>~a:53455401
! bufferv-:+l£ ::.=ii;,00524554
! buf fer>i+16 >“&00302E31
! buf f er:i"»-20 >=n:?.4E294328
! •: bufferr-;+24 >«:&444C412E
! buf fer“;+28 >===&:31205349
! buf f er*;+32 ;:'=«=&00343839
ENDPROC

470

480

490

500

510

520

521
530
540
550
560
570
580
'590
600
610
620
630
640
650
660
670

#0

<&F2>..V

#«X'F

ca1 \ _code,
Tiot_our s

ca11_code,
test

340

360

370

380

390

DEFPROCassemble
for p.ii..ss^i=4 TO 6 STEP 2
P:i.==a:8024 ; 0-i===buf f er‘s;-i-!2.:24
COPT pass*;

.servIoc

690

700

710

720

730

740

750

760

770

780

.command
PHR
TYR
PHR
TXR
PHR

ld:k

. test

LDR
RND
CMP
BNE
I NY
I NX
LDR
BNE

. ours

JSR langloc

PLR

TRX

PLR

TRY

PLR

LDR #0

PLP

RTS

. •riot_ours .

PLR

TRX

PLR

TRY

PLR

PLP

810

820

830

840

850

860

870

890
900
910
920
930
940
950
960
970
980
990
1000
1002
1010
1020
1030
1035
1040
1050
1060
1070
1 080
1090
1 1 00
1 1 1 0
1 120
1 1 30
1 140

PHR

TYR

PHR

TXR

PHR

JSR OSNEWL
LDX #0

.loopl

LDR fe8009/X
JSR OSRSCI
I NX

CMP #0
BNE loopl
JSR OSNEUL
CLC

BCC Tiot_our»
.langloc
LDY

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53

ATARI GRAPHICS

OF HIGH
JINKS iKM)
ANTICS...

In the third part of this award-winning, epoch-making
and ice-breaking series on ATARI GRAPHICS, NIGEL
FARRIER explains how, by some discreet twiddling with
the display list, all sorts of bizarre and jewel-like effects
become possible. Like redefined and multicoloured
character sets, for example...

MANY OF the colourful games that are available today on Atari
do not actually use any high resolution graphics mode. They
simply use a GRAPHICS 0 screen and colour. According to the
Atari reference manual you can only have one colour with two
luminances. However, there is an extremely simple way of
obtaining four colours in a GRAPHICS 0 screen and also have a
high resolution definition.

The Antic chip

The answer lies with the
ANTIC chip. Although you
only have twelve possible
GRAPHICS commands,
there are a possible six¬
teen different screens
(assuming no interrupts
and fancy programming).
For those of you with one
of the new XL computers
life is made much simpler
as they have been built
into the GRAPHICS state¬
ment.

One of the major func¬
tions of the Antic chip is
to control what appears
on your television screen.
To do this it needs several
pieces of information.
Firstly it requires a set of
instructions that tell it
what mode it is in and
secondly it needs to know
where to find the screen
data. The set of instruc-
tlonsfor Antic Is known as
a display list and the
address of the display list
is held in locations 560 and
561.

When you are in a
GRAPHICS mode 0
screen, Antic Is actually in
mode 2! (Typical, things
are never as straight as

they should be.) Our mul¬
ticoloured GRAPHICS
mode 0 is Antic mode 4.
Therefore all we have to
do is to slightly alter the
figures in the display list
into fooling Antic that it is
in mode 4.

The Display List

Firstly let us look at the
ordinary display list. As I
have already stated. Its
location is held in 560 and
561 and can be found by
the following simple piece
of arithmetic:

DL = PEEK (560) + PEEK
(561)^256

Location 561 holds the
'high byte' of the address
and 560 the 'low byte'. We
therefore have to multiply
the high byte by 256
(remember last month
and pages being 256 bytes
long?) and add in the low
byte. The variable DL now
contains the starting
address of the display list.
In order to see what the
display list contains type
in the above and follow it
with

FOR X = DLTO DL + 31:

rnmmmm

PRINT PEEK(X),:NEXTX

If you have typed it in
correctly you will get a
stream of numbers
appearing on the screen.

The first three numbers
should be 112 which tell
Antic to put a few blank
lines at the top of the
screen. You should then
have the number 66 fol¬
lowed by two other num¬
bers depending upon how
much memory you have
got. Following this will be
twenty three 2's. Finally
another three numbers
depending upon the state
of your memory.

GRAPHICS mode 0 is
ANTIC mode 2, remem¬
ber. Right in the middle of
this list we have a mass of
2's telling the Antic chip
what mode it is in for that
display line. We therefore
have to change all the 2's
into 4's.

If you look at the list of
numbers again you will
see that the fourth num¬
ber is 66. This is actually
made up of 64+2. This

therefore has to be
changed to 64+4, i.e., 68.
If you now type in the
following program it will
convert the whole screen
in Antic mode 4 and put
something on the screen
so that you can see the
effect.

10 GRAPHICS 0: LIST:

LIST

20 D = PEEK(560) +
256*PEEK(561)
30 POKEDL+3,68
40 F0RX=6T0 28
50 POKEDL+X,4
60 NEXTX

What appears on the
screen is virtually illeg¬
ible. You have got multi¬
coloured characters. Just
to prove that It really is
there alter line 40 to read:

40 FORX=6TO 28 STEP 2

and then RUN the pro¬
gram again. Now only
every other line Is in
ANTIC mode 4 and the
others are normal mode 2
lines.

Continued p. 94

Get girls! Lose spots! U|

for Unexpanded VIC-20

5 REM3*iSPEEIi flREHFl
EV

EV n.GRRL

10 PRINT'T]"

11 HI=100

1 Fi SC=0 • L= 1: LI =3 • GOTU
20 X=0: V=0: DI =0: C=307;

250

0:fl$=‘"' :E$=‘' "

30 POKE 36873.-27

40 FOR F=7680 TO 7701 • POKE F.. 160
:P0KE F+C..0:HEXT_F
.1^10 FoR F=i'*8'—*0 To c*l84 •z*Tcii— cmC~ ^

:pnKE F. 160-POKE F+C..0:HE;KT F
60 FOR F=8164 TO 8185:POKE F,. 160
:pOKE F+C.*0:NEKT F
70 FOR F=770T TO 8185 STEP 22
: POKE F160: POKE F+0.. 0 '• NEIKT F
100 FOR W=1 TO 100

105 GET m-lF fl$C>”Z"fiND H

" THEN fl$=Bf

110 IF flt-="L"THEN K=K-1: DI =60 '• SC=SC+1
120 IF m=" ■"THEN N=K+1 :EI =62:SC=SC:+1 |
130 IF fl-$="fi‘‘THEN V=V-1: 01 = 1: 30=80+1
140 IF m=" 2"THEN V=V+1^01=22:SO=SO+1
145 B$=fl$

15Pi p=7910+N+22#V

160 IF PEEK<P><>32 THEN 300

170 POKE P,. or-POKE P+C.. 2

180 FOR Q =1 TO L

130 fi=TNT<RND<l>i^500> + l

200 POKE 7680+fl.-160 POKE 7680+fl+C.. O

210 NENT Q

220 FOR T=1 TO 25:NENT T
230 POKE P..32

23fi PRINT'T^S SCORE: "SC" HI'• "HI
240 NEXT U
245 L=L+1

250 PR I NT" CENTER FlRENfl"L

I your Macho Moment!

Steer your buggy around the rapidly-materialising obstacles and win silver cups, cham¬
pagne and the chance to go on Name That Tune with Murray Walker! Get girls! Lose
spots! Up your Macho Moment! All you need for perfect celestial harmony and clean
spark plugs is to remember that A and S move you left and right, while L and ( do the
vertical equivalent. Rrrrrrrrummmm!

260

270

280

300

310

315

320

FOR T=1 TO 500:NEXT T
PRINTM"

GOTO 20

POKE P.. 160: POKE P-1 160
: POKE P+1.. 160 •• POKE P-22.. 160
:P0KE P+22.. 160
POKE P+C:..4:P0KE P-1+C..4
: POKE P+1+C.. 4: POKE P-22+C:.. 4
:P0KE P+22+C..4
POKE 36877..200

FOR S=15 TO 0 STEP-1: POKE 363 ,■
•FOR T=1 TO 50:NEXT T:NEX

330 PuKE -liE.yi' f.. 0
340

FOR E=0 TO 3 :POKE P..32_P0KE P-E..42
:P0KE P+E..42:P0KE P-22i^t..42
:pOKE P+22-*E..42
350 POKE P+C:..2:P0KE P-E+C..2

■ POKE P+E+C." 2: POKE P-22#E+iJ.- 2

:POKE P+22-*E+C..2

SFO POKE 36878.. 10 : POKE 36875.. 28ti

:FOR T=1 TO 25 : NEXT T : POKE 36875 ..0
370 POKE P.. 32: POKE p-E..32:pOKE P+E..32
: POKE P-22^E, 32 • POKE P+22i^E.. 32
380 NEXT E
385 LI=LI-1
390 IF LI>0 THEN 250
400 PR I NT” Hi SI SPEED flP.EHfi 1"

405 PRINT"VOiJ WRECKED PiLL VOUR CPiRS. ”
410 PRINT"‘t'OU SCORED"sc
420 IF SOHI THEN PRINT"fi NEW HI SCOR
E":HI=SC:GOTO 440
430 PRINT"HI SCORE"HI
440 PRINT"PRESS P TO PLRV"

450 GET Z$:IF Z$C>"P"THEN 450
460 PR I NT " 73": GOTO 15

» Cl

nniVIPFTITON ° COMPETITION ° COMFfTI

COMPETITION • COMPETITION»COMPETITION ■> C

This month BIG K, in conjunction with K-Tel, is
proud to present one of the most exciting compe¬
titions ever runhy a computer magazine.

The lucky winner will receive Ca) a week for
TWO PEOPLE* in Florida, USA; (b) all expenses
including flight, hotel, car hire and £500 SPEWD-
mG MONEY; and (c) a trip to the Kennedy Space
Center. It’s the trip of a lifetime and it’s ONLY in
BIGK.

Hunners-up will receive prizes of K-Tel Soft¬
ware on either cassette or floppy-disc.

=3riTIO N «* CO M PETITION ° CO M PETITIO N C O M PETIT

A WEEK IN FLORIDA!

COMPETITION

DF

RULES

There is no entry fee but all
entries must be on a proper
printed coupon cut from BIG K
and must bear the entrant's
own name, age and address.

Every accepted entry will be
examined and the First Prize
awarded to the entrant who, in
the opinion of the judges, has
shown the most skill and judg¬
ment in assessing the merits
of the alternative factors for
each of the nine pairs. Remain¬
ing prizes will be awarded for
the next best entries in order
of merit No entrant may win
more than one award.

In the event of a tie or ties
for any prize(s) then a further
test of skill will be conducted
by post between tying com¬
petitors to determine the
eventual winner(s) or winning
order.

All prizes must be accepted
as offered. There can be no
alternative awards, cash or
otherwise. If the First Prize¬
winner is aged under 18 then
parental consent must be pro¬
vided before the prize can be
awarded. The winner must be.
accompanied by a responsible
adult on the holiday which can
betaken any time during 1985,
subject to availability or book¬
ings.

Any entry received after the
closing date will be disquali¬
fied as will any received muti¬
lated, illegible, altered,
incomplete or not complying
with the rules and instructions
exactly. No responsibility can
be accepted for entries lost or
delayed in the post or else¬
where. Proof of posting will not
be accepted as proof of receipt.

The judges' decision and that
of the Editor in all other rnat-
ters affecting the competition
will be final and legally bind¬
ing. No correspondence can be
entered into.

The competition is open to
all readers in Great Britain,
Northern Ireland, Eire, the
Channel Islands and Isle of
Man except employees (and
their families) of IPC Maga¬
zines Ltd., the printers of BIG K
or of K-Tel and their publicity
agents.

All winners will be notified
and the result published later
in BIG K.

B

^•^■screen Machines

HOW TO ENTER

Here are nine pairs of factors which are to be considered when creating an arcade game
suitable for home computers. Of course, a commercial success is the main aim and so all the
factors are desirable. However, for the purposes of this competition what we want you to do is
decide which of the two possibilities in each pair is more important when trying to design an
appealing home computer arcade game — is it A or B or are both EQUALLY important?

Write the key letter (A or B) of each chosen answer in the appropriate space on the entry
coupon but if you consider them both to be of equal merit mark a cross (X). For example, if you
think that "loading title page" is more important for the first pair put A under 1 on the coupon.
If you think "attractive packaging" is of greatest importance put 8 but if you think they are of
EQUAL merit put X.

When you have completed all nine pairs in this way, complete the coupon — in ink or
ballpoint — with yourfull name, age and address and then postyour entry in a sealed envelope
to: BIG K/K-Tel COMPETITION, 55 EWER STREET, LONDON SE99 6YP to arrive no later than
Friday, August 31,1984, the closing date.

IMPORTANT: Before sealing, copy out on the outside back of the envelope the nine key letters
in EXACTLY the same order as they appear on your completed coupon. Do not enclose any
other correspondence. FAILURE TO COMPLY MAY RESULT IN YOUR ENTRY NOT BEING
CONSIDERED.

1

ADDRESS

I - ^ please cut neatly around this line —■ - — J

PETITION«COM PETITIO N CO M PETITICI

UIDBET5

ENTER THE

WICO,
YOUCO,
THEY ALL
CO

You've been able to get the Wico range of joysticks in this country for some time
now, though not "officially". Those who have had any experience with these
American controllers know them to be without equal for durability and sweetness of
action. Now they've found a home in the UK on a permanent basis. CGL, who already
distribute the Sord M5 computer plus the largest range of standalones in the UK,
have now picked up the Wisconsin company's action in this country.

Like all US companies, Wico target Atari, Apple and CBM 64 most widely (though
with the various interfaces now available there's no reason why Spectrum owners
shouldn't consider them also). Stick power is yours with The Sossf or £13.00 - this
squares up looks-and quality-wise with the Pro Stick or Spectravision II. Move on up
to the RedBalIsM on shape, action, weight and sensitivity - 8-way directions are
yours for £10 more. Those who treat joysticks as precision instruments, like forceps,
will approve of the choice represented by the S-way Joystick SI £25. Three
changeable handles come supplied—a mini-baseball bat and two contoured shapes.

In the US, Wico is pretty much a connoisseur's stick. Now that their prices are
significantly lower than when they first arrived, others can experience them too.

NB: Watch outfor
Upcoming BIG K Controller Review

selection combinations;
ball-handled stick with
short stem and thankfully
easier action than on the
Coleco game system. There
is also a mysterious white
knurled plastic wheel that
tracks a cursor in certain
Coleco games.

Underneath the fingers:
four separate multicoloured
triggers, one for each digit.
Again, these have special
applications.

Though lurid and gauche
to the point of insanity to
look at, these items — like
so much Mickey Mouse
American engineering —
actually work very well. The
ball stick is positive and
smooth, almost WICO
standard.

ELECTRON DIGITAL

Electron users (hi!) know
that while they have a
good BBC jr in many
ways, they also have a
machine frustratingly
difficult to expand. Acorn
presumably intended all
along that puterists
wishing to expand would
naturally go for Big Bro',
but that's not the way
people think.

That aside, companies
(including, it must be
said, Acron) have been
quietly working on the
not inconsiderable task of
making the Electron even
mildly expandable. Yea,

even unto the point of a
decent joystick.

Digital sticks run not on
the Acorn Electron. It's
either Analogue or the
keyboard. The range of
Atari-compatible sticks
(i.e. the best and the
most) are or have been
unavailable. Until — you
guessed it — now.

FBC Systems of Derbys
(you know them as First
Byte) have now produced
a little interpretive bit of
hardware that lets Wicos,
Pro-Sticks, Spectra I Is,
etc, all talk to Electrons.
We guess it goes into The

FUN GLOVE

Surely the all-time prize for
Input Device Gross-out
must be given — no
contenders — to CBS-
Coleco, whose Super Action
Hand Controllers are easily
the most baroque widgets
yet.

They resemble the
boxing-gloves of a robot:
great metal and plastic
gauntlets that almost
enclose your fist. On top:
keypad for Coleco game

60

w at th^olveroYpo"’^ t>aautitul

AQUARIUS SWIM
IN SPECTRUM
WATERS WITH
NEW PLOHER

When Mattel's electronics division
nosedived into the fertilizer last
Christmas many folks assumed that
was the end of both the Intellivsion
games system and the budget
Aquarius computer.

But Aquarius lives! 16K RAM
expansions and more software
(including "small business"
packages as well as the LOGO
language) have yanked it back even
as the lid of the tomb slammeth;
today, it doesn't exactly sell in hosts,
and probably never will, but the
machine has now generated a series
of tasty peripherals, all of which are
Spectrum-compatible. The first of
these to be revealed is the Aquarius
4-colour printer/plotter.

It's a buff-and-dark-blue slimline
package about the size of a box of 50
cigars. It takes the usual 40-column
roll of paper (any paper, ZX owners),
prints text and excellent graphics in
(you guessed it) four colours, and
possesses its own remarkably
comprehensive character set. All of

only; mixed text and graphics (with
alternate character set); and graphics
alone. And it can function in the
normal way (albeit wasted) as a
simple program lister (the LLIST
command), text reproducer (via
LPRINT); or you can invoke a couple
of protocols and convert it to a
plotter.

A printer — possibly after a disc
drive — is most people's choice of
chief peripheral. Four-colour printer
technology is now, in its upper
tfeaches, a fine and expensive art; it
was inevitable that before long
someone would produce an example
of the same technology to suit the
"budget" end of the market. In the
UK, this means Spectrum, and the
fact that the Aquarius Printer/Plotter
runs on Spectrum (via an RS232
lead) must make it a serious choice.

this can be generated by either an
Aquarius computer or — and this is
much more of a prospect —Sinclair
Spectrums running Interface I.

Connection with the host Aquarius
is via a miniature-jack serial cable.

On power-up (which must be done
before switching on the computer),
the printer gears up with a whinge or
two, then raps out four filled circles,
each in a different colour. The pens,
by the way, are inserted and
removed with fantastic ease, and are
about the size of .22 bullets. By
holding down the PAPER fascia
button while switching on the
Aquarius can be made to generate its
complete character set in either 40-or
80-column measure. The superb
quality of the latter, highly-
miniaturised print is breathtaking for
a machine of this price.

It operates in three modes: text

DONGLE

User Port, as it were. Its
price is £24.95.

Unhappily Acorn have
also chosen this moment
to unveil a range of
Electron talk-throughs.
For £59.00 said lucky
Electron people can get
yourselves tooled up
with Plus-1, an all¬
purpose expansion box.

All together in the unit
are a centronics printer
port, two ROM slots, and
a single analogue joystick
port. So you still have to
use the First Byte
converter if you want to

CONTINUED
FROM
PAGE 61

We had to get this one in.

If we had an award for the
looniest widget of the
month (perhaps we
should?) this month's grand
prix would surely go to
makers of the great Atari
400 Stick-on Rubber
Keyboard.

Actually, it works. The
notorious flat keyboard of
the 16K 400 (Atari's ugliest
machine yet) is in fact pretty
sensitive, and the rubber
keyboard when stuck in
place actually softens the
tactile impact, though you
still can't really touch type.
And yes. Atari 400 owners
might well go for it in huge
crowds, practically beating
in Filesixty's doors in their
desire to get keyboarded
up.

What strikes us most,
though, here at Big K, is the
aesthetic ludicrousness of
the thing. Rubber! (He^ve,

spew.) Stick-on! (Tacky.)

For the Atari 400!
(Obsolescent if not
obsolete.) NO, our sense of
human dignity would
simply not let us use this
device for the purpose
intended.

It is when it is regarded as
an ART object that this
splendid piece of nonsense
comes into its own. To add
Pose Power to your motor,
there's nothing like it. BIG K
Art Editor Ian Stead found it
a home affixed to the all-
metal dash of his Cortina.
There, it serves no practical
function whatever, but
hitch-hikers are awestruck
and other motorists,
assuming it to be the
ultimate trip computer, ply
Ian with questions. He is
developing quite a good line
of patter on the subject.

Can we all have one,
please?

Newest to emerge in
this field are Advanced
Memory Systems, who
offer a low-profile full-
stroke conversion kit for
£49.95. Among
thoughtful upgrades to
the Sinclair layout are the
provision of a proper
space bar and a
dedicated numeric
keypad. Word processing
(a number of neglected
packages for Spectrum
actually exist) is now a
real possibility — which
naturally enhances the
usefulness of other
Spectrum peripherals,
like disc drives and even
microdrives.

Advanced Memory
seem to have a knack of
.fingering certain small
but rewarding areas of
the market — you may
remember them for a
recent 3" Hitachi
microfloppy drive they
provided to fit Acorn's
BBC-DOS.

THIS SLIMLINE
ISA
TONIC

Spectrum owners never
tire of bitching about
their keyboards and
who's to blame them?

For this reason there has
always been a substantial
amount of interest in
conversions (upwards, of
course).

WONDER

COMET

AVAILABLE FROM COMPUTER DEALERS NATIONWIDE INCLUDING
W.H. SMITH . JOHNMENZIES . WOOLWORTHS . GREENS . SPECTRUM

You won't wait long when you order from us!

Send to: MICRO SPEECH OFFER, P.O.BOX 1, GATESHEAD NE8 1AJ
or telephone: NEWCASTLE (0632) 824683

Please send me .MICRO SPEECH units.

Name (Print clearly) .

COMPLETE DETAILS ARE ON OUR LEAFLET
PICK ONE UP FROM ANY STORE

|C|U|R|RiA|H|

IvISlPiElElCM ONLY

£29.95

I enclose Cheque/Postal Order payable to " Micro Speech Offer"
or debit my Barclaycard/Access account No. f I I I I I I I I I I I I I

1 understand that I can have my money back within 10 days of purchase if I am not delighted.
Please allow 21 days for delivery. 12 months parts and labour guarantee.

Signed. Ref [ }

including p FREE SPEECH GAME "MYSTIC TOWER"
p COMPREHENSIVE MANUAL
ju DEMO CASSETTE

EXPERIENCE THE DEVASTATING SOUND OF MICROSPEECH ON YOUR SPECTRUM

jU EVERYONE FINDS IT FUN BECAUSE IT'S EASY TO USE
(it says any word you want it to say)

P EXCLUSIVE TECHNOLOGY MEANS ALL SOUND IS NOW PUT THROUGH YOUR TV
P AND THE GAMES WITH SPEECH.SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

.ULTIMATE..Lunar Jetman.BUG BYTE..Birds and the Bees OCEAN..Mr Wimpy..Hunchback..Moon Alert.QUICKSILVA..Mined Out.. ..

.ROMIK..3D Monster Chase..Shark Attack..Colour Clash.MARTECH..BIastermind MOGUL..Las Vegas Lady CRYSTAL..The Island.

.DIGITAL FANTASIA..Mysterious Adventures (Parts 1-10).LYVERSOFT..Lunar Rescue.BRITANNIA..Grand Prix Driver.CDS.. Time Bomb..

.ARCADIA..Mushroom Mania PSS..Blade Alley.MR MICRO..Crazy Golf..Punchy..Harlequin DkTRONICS..Maziacs...

(some of these games are new versions of original programs)

AND THIS ISN'T THE END OF IT!

NEW PROGRAMS FROM
POSTERN
VIRGIN

SALAMANDER

VISIONS

INCENTIVE

MIKROGEN

SOFTEK

ABBEX

ANIROG

AUTOMATA

HEWSON CONSULTANTS
RICHARD SHEPHERD
SOFTWARE PROJECTS
THOR
FANTASY
MICROMANIA
M.CLOTHLORIEN

WILL REAPPEARING SOON

_ SOFTWARE

Bob Hamilton's best selling Spectrum game has been beautifully converted for the
Commodore 64 by John White with many additional features fully utilising the extra capabHities o
this machine. The Pyramid contains 120 chambers on 15 levels. In order to get from
another you must fight off the indigenous aliens to collect an crystal which wiN

neutralize the force field guarding the two exits. The Pyramid is defended by a total of 120 different
beautifully animated aliens (more than any other video game in histoiyl), one for
and each with a unique attack pattern. They manifest themselves in the rnost amazingly diverse
and peculiar forms from the squirting soda syphons to the extra-terrestrial tweezers and a
host of entities defying rational description. You will have great fun inventing your own nicknames
You proceed to explore the Ffyramid from top to bottom with the difficulty increasing
with the depth of level as the attack patterns get more complex and the aliens become

intelligent. ,,

Depending on the choice of exit from each

chamber you are likely to have a ^ \

different game every time you play
Apart from the challenge of

trying to achieve the highest score . ^

possible the Pyramid contains a

number puzzle to solve. The more ^

chambers you successfully visit the

more information is gathered to ^ ■

iMdfi-M

inovemer

Sralore

rsof

ID'.

For

Commodore

64

and 48K
Spectrum

e/iKiTACV crkPTUlARE is avail^SIPItJ^BPIMITRKrJORWTOENZIES, BOOTS, LASKYS, GREENS,
RUMBELOWS, SPECTRUM^^UP and all other good software retailers.

The Pyramid at £6.50 for Commodore 64K and at £5.50 for the Spectrum 48K fr®"™

PAMTAW <:nFr\)f/APF FAl JCONBERG LODGE 27A ST GEORGES ROAD, CHELTENHAM, GLOS GL50 3DT
despatthld^ return first class post together with free membership and current newsletter of the Fantasy Micro Club.^
^ Trade enouiries welcome-telephone 0242-583661.

DUCKWORTH
HOME COMPUTING

a new series

All books written by Peter Gerrard, former editor of Commodore Computing
International, author of two top-selling adventure games for the Commodore
64, or by Kevin Bergin. Both are regular contributors to Personal Computer
News, Which Micro? and Software Review.

EXPLORING ADVENTURES

A complete look at the fabulous world of Adventure Games for your computer.
Starting with an introduction to adventures, and their early history, it takes you
gently through the basic programming necessary before you can start writing
your own games. Inputting information, room mapping, movement, vocabulary,
and everything required to write an adventure game are explored in detail.
There follow a number of adventure scenarios, just to get started, and finally
three complete listings written especially for your machine, which will send
you off into wonderful worlds where almost anything can happen. The three
games listed in each book are available on one cassette at £7.95. The complete
gmde to adventure games: playing, writing and solving them. Peter Gerrard is
the author of Romik’s two top-selling adventure games - Fools Gold and Tomb
of Xeiops:

EXPLORING ADVENTURES ON THE COMMODORE 64 £6 95

EXPLORING ADVENTURES ON THE VIC * £6.95

‘Two of the games require 16K expansion and the third 32K
EXPLORING ADVENTURES ON THE SPECTRUM 48K £6.95

EXPLORING ADVENTURES ON THE ORIC 48K £6.95

EXPLORING ADVENTURES ON THE DRAGON £6.95

EXPLORING ADVENTURES ON THE BBC Model B £6.95

EXPLORING ADVENTURES ON THE ELECTRON £6.95

Other titles in the series include Using the Commodore 64, The Beginner’s
Guide to Computers and Computing, Sprites & Sound on the 64,12 Simple
Electronic Projects for the VIC, Will You Still Love Me When I'm 64,
Advanced Basic & Machine Code Programming on the VIC, Advanced Basic
& Machine Code Programming on the 64, as well as Pocket Handbooks for
the VIC, 64, Dragon and BBC Model B.

Write in for a descriptive leaflet (with details of cassettes).

DUCKWORTH

The Old Piano Factory, 43 Gloucester Crescent, London NWl 7DY
Tel: 01-485 3484

WMm~ WMm

mvm mvm

THE

MICRO WORKSHOP

MICRO COMPUTER
SPECIALISTS

(Spectrum Group Member)

Software and hardware over the counter for Sin¬
clair Spectrum, ZX-81, BBC, Vic-20, CBM-64,
Memotech, Atari, Adam, etc.

* COMPUTERS * RAMPACKS

* JOYSTICKS * BOOKS

* KEYBOARDS * DISCS

* TAPES * LIGHT PENS

* COMPONENTS *

Business/Serious Programs available
Located directly opposite Epsom Main Line
Station. Visit us or ring for friendly service. See
and try before you buy.

Overseas/Export orders welcome

12 STATION APPROACH
EPSOM, SURREY
EPSOM 21533

NOW AVAILABLE FOR
^ commodore

0 GAMES ON ONE CASSETTE

. . DRAGON OOBaib Spectrum ||cipple ATARI ORIC-l ZXBI. VlOQO

tell you everything
about the 50 games on
CASSETTE - 50 but they include
many types such as maze, arcade.

EXPRESS DELIVERY-
ORDER NOW

Please send me by return of post. Cassette 50 at £ 9.95
per tape. I enclose a cheque/postal order for

made payable to
Cascade Games Ltd.

missile, tactical and logic games,
to suit most tastes in computer
game playing.

CASSETTE - 50 will appeal to
people of all ages and the games
will provide many hours of
entertainment for all the family at
a fraction of the cost of other
computer games.

Name _
Address

Post Code

Country

I Dealers & Stockists enquiries welcome.

Please debit
my S No.

SPECTRUM
COMMODORE 64

8 ^ 11 ^ Cascade Games Ltd.,

Suite 4, 1-3 Haywra Crescent, Harrogate,
GOSCOCiC North Yorkshire, HG1 5BG. England,
p a»p a Telephone: (0423) 504526. ,

m O mam BK8/o4J

B

] oRic-ir

] zx 81 r

1 VIC 20 r

1 applet

J DRAGONL

J ATARI L

J BBC a/bL

] [

What's this? A computer game that requires a pencil and paper?
Your mind will BOGGLE! What is more, two can play. Just
check the letters on the screen and make up as many words as
you can from them within the time limit—the more letters in
your words the more you score. So type in this up to the
iTioment version of e femily fevourite end put your brein cells
into high gear. Full instructions are given in the program.

6; WORK

i.l,UINCHE5TE

1 SK ? GO*5U& 'TflRND CHR^ *

•=; E£RN0 .! K. UMK'S IsOSUB

IgTftN

3 POKE 16516., 11 y
4. POKE 16518.91

5 POKE 16539,117

6 LET ■5X0 = 16534-

7 LET RET = i6514-

8 GO-oUB 700

9 PRI NT RT 3,11 ;

le PRINT ST IS.i;

S WHILE ftS I MOST-.,

OLfT THE BOARD ■■

11 PRINT RT 14-., 1; "THE SCREEN W
ILL GO BLANK FOR"TAB 6.; "ABOUT
HALF A MINUTE”
l-£ PRINT AT 18,7.; "S
.TAB 7.: "li BV
R li".,TAB 7.;

14- FOR P = 1 TO 300
15 NEXT P

17 CL3

18 FAST

19 FOR P=0 TO 20

20 PRINT AT P.,0;

30 PRINT AT P..5.:"3
4-0 PRINT AT P., 10.;

50 PRINT AT P., 15.;

55 PRINT AT P..20;

60 NEXT P

62 PRINT AT 1..22.;

63 PRINT TAB 22.; "|

64- PRINT TAB 22.:

65 PRINT TAB 22.;

66 PRINT TAB 22.:

67 PRINT TAB 22.;

68 PRINT T AB 22!: "I
70 LET P$ = "l

^^80 PRINT AT 0 , 0 ; PS; AT s., 0.;PS;R

i00 DIM ©i

10S LET l i> =**YPEHIE*’

107 Lex ftSlia) ="L.UKEYG"

109 LET P* (3) =**SRHOMR‘*

111 LET C4.> ="GURILU”

113 LET R$ C5) =‘*TUSEPL*'

114. LET R$l(©) =“ROMRHS“

IIS LET R$ 17) =**YLTBRI**

117 LET R$ (©) ='*NEDRUZ**

119 LET R$ l9) =*'RMOO%JB’'

121 LET R$ (10J ="RCLSRE*'

123 LET R$i Cll> =:**DONUTK’*

125 LET R$C12>="PIROBX“

126 LET Y=4.1

127 LET (13)="OONESW'

129 LET R$ (14.) =”INEGUT"

131 LET R$ (15) =s*'TOCRRI**

132 LET R$ (16) =:**MCDPRE**

134. DIM D$(16)

135 LET X=2

136 LET Y=4.2
14-0 DIM 0(16.. 2)

14.2 POR P = 1 TO 16

14.3 LET CP)

14.4. NEXT P

14.5 POR D = 1 TO 16

14.6 LET R = I^^r CRND^16)-H

14S IP D^CR) =••!•• THEN OOTO 14-6

150 LET C$(D)=:STR$ R

151 LET DS(R)

152 NEXT D

200 POR P=:l TO 16

210 LET R$::=R$(URL C^CP/l TO 2) >
INT (RND«6)+1)

215 IP Rj^=**0" THEN PRINT RT 23-
y/2..X/2+2.: ••U**

260 LET R=:76B0r|.S»CODE R$

270 POR C*R TO R-l-7
260 LET B==PEEK C

290 IP Cy2=:INT 02 THEN LET Y=::Y
~1

300 POR N=1 TO S

310 LET B=2^^ (B-256*INT CBy256) )

320 IP B>=256 THEN PLOT X+N-1.,Y
330 NEXT N
360 NEXT C
4.00 LET X=X-)^1©

byJ.
WINCHESTER
for
ZX81

4.1© LET V=V*f6
4.15 IP X>4.0 THEN LET Y=Y-10
4.20 IP X>4.0 THEN LET X=2
4.5© NEXT P
451 SLOU

50© LET KO=USR STO

505 POR P=1 TO 64

510 POR 0=1 TO 43

515 NEXT O

520 PLOT 54^*9*5IN (Py32«^PX) .. 1© +

9»COS (Py32»PI)

540 NEXT P
550 CLS

560 PRINT RT 4^6;*

■■■i'\;TRB 6;" ■

570 PRINT TRB ©; “

■■i*\:TRB 6; " ■ I

56© PRINT TRB 6:"

590 PRINT .. ll.:* "S B BBl

.;TRB 11.; '« mm S*'

S30 PRINT TRS IX, S

RB 11: “B m .

61© PRINT TRB 11/ ''' BatalA

62© POR f) = l TO 175

630 NEXT P

64© LET KO=USR RET

65© PRINT RT 1©/22; ‘PRESS RNY

TRB 22,; "KEY TO";T«B 22;"RESTHH1
to55 IF INKEY*="" THEN GOTO 655
656 FAST
660 =^C-TO 3.6

700 PRINT RT 6 I 3.0; "B O G G L. E"

70b print rt s;, 7.; "( instructions

?

710 INPUT sa
720 C1_S

730 IF S$ = ‘N" THEN RETURN
735 PRINT “BOGGLE IS FOR 2 OR M
ORE PEOPLE.”

74.0 PRINT "I WILL PRINT UP R 4.
3Y 4- GRIO OF*'

“ 74.5 PRINT "LETTERS. YOU HfiUE R
TIME LIHIT"

750 PRINT *' (SHOUN BY THE CLOCK)
IN U.HICH"

755 PRINT "YOU HUST FIND RS MRN
y HIDDEN “

7sO PRINT "UORD5 RS YOU CRN
INIMUM OF 3“

765 PRINT *■ LETTERS.> . THE LETT
ERSHUST"

770 P'RINT oc TOUCHING EfiCH OTH
ER ON THE"

775 PRINT "SORRD. EG TO GET ""H

;llo*

7S0

THE
PRINT

H*

.. BELOU., OR

HUST EITHER BE RBOUE

THE NEXT L ftMMftM BE
RS BEFORE, NOR CRN R

"BESIDE THE E {R DIRGO
L-INK UP“

r^llMILRRLY*'"®

rlthough'^the"'"'^

605 PRINT "L NEED NOT LINK UXTH
THE H . **

610 PRINT
THE 5RHE L
SIS PRINT
NY LETTERS"

617 PRINT "BE REPERTED"

"IN THE SRHE WORD UNL

THEY

"GENUINELY RPPERR TUI
CE. FINRLLY"

83© PRINT "THE O HUST LINK UITH
THE L"

835 PRINT "TO GIVE ""HELLO"".*'

836 PRINT RT 21,0;"PRESS R KEY
TO GO ON"

837 IF INKE^^^ = "" THEN GOTO 837

838 CLs

‘^NEN your TIME IS PI

_B4.5 .RRINT "WILL LET YOU KNOW) ,
LRCH PLRYER"

"RERDS RLOUD THE WORD
3 HE""5 GOT."

£25^1 gny one else also

HRo THAT

-,0®® "WORD THEN EVERYONE C

ROSSES THAT"

^SSS PRINT "UORD FROH THEIR LIST

870 PRINT
ELSE HRS"

S7S PRINT "ALSO GOT THAT PLAYER
RECIEVES R"

830 PRINT

■FOR ANY WORD NC^OOY

SG0

PRINT

TRB

3; *‘3

^4. kETTERS

= 1

G00

PRINT

TRB

3.; "5

BETTERS

— 2

1000

PRINT

T hB

*^5

L.ETTERS

=3

1005

PRINT

TRB

3; "7

L.ETTER5

=5

1010

1 ’*

PRINT

TRB

3;"S+LETTERS

= 1

1050

□hrds

RRE**

"U‘5L

‘REL.V

AT LEAST 4

B

nIr^hrving"

io60^RRINT"THE LARGEST TOTAL OF

1070 PRINT "THE END."

1080 PRINT "PS. R O COUNTS RS R
9U AND RS"

1020 PRINT "2 LETTERS IF INCLUDE
D IN R WORD"

PRIHT PT 20 . : “PRH3S R KEY

10 P1_.RV T.HE

110 s IF IMKEV$=““ THEN GOTO 110E
1110 CES
1120 RETURN

10BPRI^4T RT 10,1; "PLEASE WRIT
R WHILE RS I MUST",,,TRB 6;"WORK
OUT THE BOARD"

14,1; "THE SCREEN W

14- FOR P=1 TO :u«,.,uuL—«uu«t

15 NEXT P

IT Cl_S

10 FRST

IG FOR P-o TO 20

'c£0 PRINl RT P.©:‘*^v‘

30 pII-TKIT* iZiT' n- »—. •

R

PKXN t HI X0 ; "i

5© PRINT RT P^ 15; ”1

rrc r-ir>TrKf-r- r->-r- r-> - •»?

600BPRINT TRB 11; "■ ■ ■■■" - t

PB 11; "B B B"

SIO PRINT TAB 11;" ■"

620 FOR P=1 TO 175

630 NEXT P

640 LET KO=USR RET

.GT 10,22; "PRESS ANY" .;

. RB iic. . KEv TD ;TP.B 22 ; "RESTRRT*'
XNKtiV$=‘“ THEM GOTO ESS
t>St> FRST

RICHARD TAYLOR’S PAGE

SINCLAIR'S ADVERTIS¬
ING blurb proudly pro¬
claims the Spectrum as a
High Resolution Micro
offering a definition of 256
X 192. Even the small print
doesn't tell you that you
can only PRINT in a rigidly
defined grid of 32 x 22
character squares.

Okay, so you can use
Plot to produce static pic¬
tures with the full resolu¬
tion — but that's what they
are, STATIC and uninter¬
esting, at least from a
games viewpoint. As for
the alternatives. Well,
what alternatives? You
could conceivably con¬
struct the characters by
plotting certain adjacent
pixels on the screen but
that is appallingly slow.
You could of course for¬
get that you've got a high
resolution machine alto¬
gether and opt for low
resolution character
movement in any games
you write and watch char¬
acters make enormous
great jumps as they are
transported around the
screen. {A lot of very good,
mainly BASIC, games
have been written in this
way). Mind you, if you for¬
get about the High-Res
you might as well forget
all about colour, sound
and all the rest of \Jr\e
associated paraphernalia
and replace your Spec-
-trum with a slightly less
graphically advanced
system — perhaps a ZX80
and a prehistoric telly!

Fortunately the prob¬
lem is not insurmounta¬
ble and can be solved with
a short program although
it does require us to dab¬
ble in that dreaded lan¬
guage, machine code. A
short machine code pro¬
gram to perform such a
task is shown in Listing 1.
The machine code is
tucked away above RAM-
TOP well away from the

danger of overwriting by
BASIC. Since the address
of RAMTOP differs on the
16K machine from the 48K
it is necessary to have two
versions of the program;
one for each memory size.
If you own a 16K com¬
puter then type In listing 2
rather than the first list¬
ing. All the program does
is to poke the machine
code Into memory. When
you've finished keyboard
bashing you're ready to
RUN it. The program
Incorporates a checksum
to verify the accuracy of
the data, so If you've made
a mistake it will tell you so
and give you an idea of
where to look for it. Once
the program has success¬
fully RUN you can save
your machine code on
tape using the commands
below:

For 48K owners — SAVE
"Hires Prnt" CODE

65116.252

For 16K owners — SAVE
"Hires Prnt" CODE

32348.252

You can reload the pro¬
gram at any time by using:
For 48K owners — CLEAR
65115. LOAD ""CODE
For 16K owners — CLEAR
32347: LOAD ""CODE

It's a good idea to save
and verify a couple of
times in case any devas¬
tating calamity should
befall your first recording.
All that the machine code
does Is the equivalent of
poking a character onto
the screen but at a much
more respectable rate
than BASIC can ever hope
to do. The machine code
also has to do a bit of fid¬
dling about with binary
numbers when a graphic
straddles two or more
character squares.

To print a character
using this routine requires
3 pokes followed by a
machine code USR call.

not surprisingly. The
locations which are poked
differs between the two
versions of the program
so remember to type in
the right ones or you could
find your machine crash¬
ing on you. The first loca¬
tion defines the x co¬
ordinate of the position
where you want the char¬
acter you wish to print. To
save any hassle with
pokes and USR state¬
ments it's a good idea to
have a small general pur¬
pose subroutine which
you can call whenever you
want to print a Hi-Res
character. Such a subrou¬
tine is listed below:

For 16K Machines:

9900 POKE 32350,CODE
a$

9910 POKE 32348,x:

POKE 32349,y

9920 RANDOMIZE USR

32351

9930 RETURN

For48K Machines:

9900 POKE 65118,CODE
a$

9910 POKE 65116,x:

POKE 65117,y

9920 RANDOMIZE USR

65119

9930 RETURN

When the subroutine is
called, using 'GO SUB
9900', the variables a$, x
and y must hold certain
parameters. A$ holds the
character that is to be
printed. The program
allows you to print any of
the basic character set
(with codes 32-127) plus
user definable characters
(with codes 144-164) but
you're not allowed to print
tokens or the graphics
characters available on
the top row of the key¬
board when in graphics
mode.

X holds the x co-ordi¬

nate (0-255) position of the
top left hand corner of the
character to be printed
while y, quite predictably,
holds the y co-ordinate (0-
175) of that point. Note
that, unlike PLOT and CIR¬
CLE etc. the y co-ordinate
is numbered from the top
rather than from the bot¬
tom of the screen so that
(0,0) is at the top left rather
than at the bottom left
hand corner of the screen.
So for instance 'LET
a$="A": LETx=128: LET
y = 88: GOSUB 9900'
prints the letter A slap
bang in the middle of the
screen. Try it and see. The
below listing:

10LETy=88
20 FORa = 1 TO 255
30 LETx=a-1: LETa$="

": REM Space
40 GOSUB 9900
50 LETx=a : LETa$="0"
60 GOSUB 9900
70 NEXT a
80 STOP

9900 (The Hi-Res Printing
routine)

will smoothly move the
letter 0 across the screen
from left to right. Notice
that before a new 'O' can
be printed the old one has
to be erased by overprint¬
ing it with a space. That
awful flicker is a result of
the fact that the 'O' is
completely absent from
the screen for a short
period just after the old
version has been over¬
printed. In a later article I
will explain how to over¬
come this problem (to a
large extent). If you add
'STEP 2' to the end of line
20 then the movement will
be much faster although
not quite as smooth. You
can arrange the x and y
co-ordinates so that the
movement is a little more
Interesting. You can use
some of the computer's
trig and other mathemat¬
ical functions to produce

HI-RES ANIMATION ROUTINES FOR ZX SPECTRUM

some fascinating move¬
ment patterns. An
example is given in the
following listing:
10LETx=128: LETy=88
20 FORz=OTO 359
30 LEToldx=x: LET
oldy=y

40 LET r=87*SIN
(10iz/180}kPI)

50 LET xx=128+riCOS
(z/180)l:PI)

60 LET yy=88+riSIN
(z/180*PI)

70 LETx=oldx: LET
y=oldy: LET a$=''

REM Space
80 GOSUB 9900
90 LET x=xx: LET y=yy:
LET a$='^0''

100 GOSUB 9900
IIONEXTz
120 STOP

9900 (Hi-res Printing
routine)

Listing 3 illustrates
another aspect of move¬
ment — acceleration and
deceleration. You can
move a dot around the
screen using the cursor
keys. Upon pressing key
'm' the 0, initially posi¬
tioned at the screen's
centre, moves towards the
dot. Its velocity is not con¬
stant; as the O nears the
dot its speed gradually
decreases. The hard work
of the program is done by
lines 1000 and 1010 which
basically work out what
one tenth of the distance
Is between the dot and the
'O' and moves the 'O' that
distance towards the dot.
As the 'O' nears the dot
the jumps gradually get
smaller so that the 'O'
moves more slowly.

Listing 3s

Take particular care in typing
in these listings, particularly
the M/C bits in the data sections.

10 LET xc=65116: REM 32348 -for 16K
20 LET yc=xc+lj LET char*xc'F2
30 LET mc*xc+3

40 LET dx-12B: LET dy=888 60 SUB 2000
50 LET px=1288 LET py=88s PLOT px,py
60 LET «^«INKEY^

70 IF THEN GO TO 60

80 IF OR a$»"M“ THEN GO SUB 50

0

90 LET oldxacpxs LET oldy^pys IF aia»”5
" THEN LET px=px--<px >0)

100 IF a^»''7” THEN LET py=py+(py< 175)
110 IF aC="6“ THEN LET py=*py--(py >0)

120 IF a^*"8'‘ THEN LET px=px+(px<255)
130 PLOT OVER l;oldx,oldy
140 PLOT px,py
150 GO TO 60

500 LET apx*px-4: IF apx<0 THEN LET ap
x«0

510 LET apy»py+4i IF apy>175 THEN LET
apy=175

1000 LET dx=dx-Kapx-dx ) /10
1010 LET dy=dy4-(apy~dy) /10
1020 LET adx=INT (dx+.5)

1030 LET ady=*INT (dy+.5)

1040 GO SUB 2000

1050 IF apx^adx AND apy«ady THEN RETURN
1060 GO TO lOOO

2000 POKE Char, CODE " : REM Space

2010 PRINT ;i RANDOMIZE USR me
2020 POKE xc,dxr POKE yc,175-dy
2030 POKEChar,CODE "O"

2040 RANDOMISE USR me
2050 RETURN

Listin© 1;

10 REM Hi-res Printing Routine
20 REM By Richard Taylor
30 REM

40 CLERR 65115
50 LET a«65116
70 FOR l»l TO 4
00 LET t«0J RERD v,a0
90 IF LEN a*>'2<>INT <C LEH
THEN GO TO 200

100 FOR c«l TO LEN a* STEP 2
110 LET x-CODE c >-48-74c<: c

>

120 LET y«CODE JL0C c+1 >-48-7:f:':: a*
(c-Fl >

130 POKE a.l6:t:x‘ty
140 LET t«t+163|Jx+y
150 LET a«a+l
160 NEXT c

180 IF vOt THEN GO TO 280
190 NEXT 1: PRINT “Data OK - no
M SRVE“: STOP

200 PRINT “ERROR in line “ ; 9904^
\t\Q

210 STOP

1000 DRTR 8322, “0000O0FDCB76863R
5EFEFE20DeFE803006ED5B365C180RD6
90D8FE15D0ED5B7B5C6F260029292919
EBED4B5CFE78FEB0D0CDB122C4E4FE3fi
5DFE473EB090FE08"

1010 DRTR 6484, “38023E0847C:5f:CT>3
FEFDCB764620061R772313181E1RDD44
0E00CB27CB1110FR47DD7DR6B1771323
7DE61F2806DD7D2FR6B0772B247CE607
200R7DC6206F3F9F '*

1020 DRTR 8907,“E6F88467C110BEi::9
FDCB76C64F3E0891DD67473EFFCB2710
FCDD6FC9E57C0F0F0FE603F65867D5ED
5B8F5C7ERBR2RBFDCB57762808E6C7CB
572002EE38FDCB57“

1030 DRTR 7461,”662808E6F8CB6F20
02EE0777FDCB76462827237DE61F2e21
7ERBR2RBFDCB57762808E6C7CB572002
EE38FDCB57662808E6F8CBeF2002EE07
77D1E1C9"

Listing

10 REM Hi-res Printing Routine
20 REM By Richard Taylor
30 REV}

40 CLERR 3234?

50 LET a=32348
70 FOR l*»l TO 4
80 LET t«0: RERD v,a*

:90 IF LEN a*/2<>INT < LEN a*/2>
THEN GO TO 200

100 FOR c»l TO LEN a^ STEP 2
110 LET x*CODE a*<c>-48-7*<a*<c
>>=“R“>

120 LET y»CODE a*<c+l >-48-7*<:a$
<c+l>>=“R“>

130 POKE a,164.x-i-y
140 LET t«t-Fl6i#cx+y
150 LET a«a+l
160 NEXT c

180 IF vOt THEN GO TO 200
190 NEXT 1: PRINT “Data OK - No
M SRVE": STOP

200 PRINT “ERROR in line “;990+
i:*;l0

210 STOP

1000 DRTR 7810,“000000FDCB76863R
5E7ErE20D8FE803006ED5B365C180RD6
90D8FE15D0ED5B7B5C6F260029292919
EBED4B5C7E78FEB0D0CDB122C4E47E3R
5D7E473EB090FE08"

1010 DRTR 6356,“38023E0847C5CDF8
7EFDCB764620061R772313181E1RDD44
0E00CB27CB1110FR47DD7DR6B1771323
7DE61F2806DD7D2FR6B0772B247CE607
2O0R7DC6206F3F9F“

1020 DRTR 8907,“E6F88467C110BEC9
FDCB76C64F3E0891DD67473EFFCB2710
FCDD6FC9E57C0F0F0FE603F65867D5ED
5B8F5C7EflBR2RBFDCB57762800E6C7CB
572002EE:38FDCB57 “

1030 DRTR 7461,“662808E6F8CB6F20
02EE07 77FDCB76462827237DE61F2821
7ERBR2RBFDCB57762808E6C7CB572002
EE3BFDCB57662008E6F8CB6F2002EE07
77D1E1C9"

"sflrone/lVann,

it again?

]

\ sector.

then

CL= '
1200 CL5 :

1 INK 6 ; "
1500 X F g ;=
00 * ‘
1510 FOR n=
PRINT hT
DONE'
15^0 FOR n=€

r-.4E>

XwO0 PRU5F c
•'=23; CL3 •'

iNT RT 10.IX: FLR

icf" ink's! FLcib

TO 1 3--5P 6^f

RESTOPS 5£,jj , „

1 r;,EF j (X ,y> =

^P>ji .h =

0 • L E~^ 1=2 1-

32 LET iK=3h-Tl I TUE5 • " • i ■■

55 print ink p;_ .■

PRINT lE'v’pI^ i-; ^ print CHP.$ 1

151." ^0-

r. ,IHT npa. t

S5jS2^" ( T 0 _:): y^'"Fi_fiSH l; ink.

^ ucW°

g : PR INT PT X , •:• ; '-T\H %

: =£ 0 :

y=16: LET 5$=
LET fa=

hhxmtiu

.05-. IF '•<1 then go

TC LET

^^7=. CeT 5l.=0: let jP=0

^ IIIIIIII-^^••■■*■•■•"'^TO

' t ) ; " "

73 LET 1

¥r;s 5517 jsJMlNn...

ST let tr=l;V then go to 1000

et*x* = inke!* then go

= ® IF < =4. THEN GO TO 1500

100 LET 3*fCHR$ 14.6
1 10 PRINT RT >:,y.. INK .,F*

.i|2 I?= 0 °THEN LET Jd=(a$=CHR

s"i48Ni:;S=CHR$ 14J!

£01 beef .005^1'-*^p then U

L^¥jp= 0 : let fa=l: GO

llfLET Xl=0: LET yl=0: IF ^^=1
I^fl^^It=|NHEN LET yl = Jd: LET
Sl¥iF = t= 0 ' then let yi = 4f^^,,...,

Ill

i,t, ir- r.oO TnEf, .IT »<.=3,

0 E0E .. .« X . LET '•• ='.■•

7¥E?"M=y.yi:N^W «T¥,y;a,:

'^'° 00 -LET t«=PEEK FN .,(X + l..y)

tp p^LalffnlS GO TO 1000^ _
llo iF L70 then let fa=0: GO T

'^330 PRINT AT X,".. 'FT A=.i.+1

°330 PRINT RT X , y.; •' '• '

• 4 IP 1 ! pDE'xstlGe^THEN LET jF-

•1 • RO TO 3*3

i^F tlT'^ni fpeek’fn .j(x + i,yl,-- i!^

»=¥then ^^t f a = l^ go TO

ni If c|7% I?hen''5o^?o i®?f

430 !eT *=PEEK FN jf.X.y-lJ: 1^
¥-Vq then ro to 1000
NliNrloO then GO,TOJ00^^^,„

4404RRIN^^R^^^;..,. -PEEK FN .-;

X + l'^M)=0 THEN LET fa=l
tli'LiT^S=PElK,FN J'X,y+l): 1^

x7l ,y)=0 THEN LET fa =1
d-cO GO "TO 110 ^ Qjj Fdt

500 doth 209,201.. , 125’.

6d,213.35 124.254,36.40,241,iw

.■35,35.45“i|g='J.= - £S 254, 0 .40 =

.§00 Dfifp iLg

■ 1,32Ts,' X3^.§4,|iP 225
'•=;■= . =.^’3 ,14,8! ' oi, ‘I'r ' 0 ' IT , 255

elffgEHTR 219^126,90,126,24 60 1
ejf "^ = '^'^='-^2,60'24^255'

Xgl*" F 0 , i53^50^3g^

,19.3 '23.60, 36,66 "

'i|f "‘^'=^'--'X52,60,36,66

18,10,1

^ ’ 2 , 11 ^ Q R " .i 7 • * 3 / 6 . 6

■•t ' ’ ' - ^ ^ -L ,7,2 7 j

S0O DPTR .F o F - - -

I^CHR$^'f 4 l FLRoH l:

100.E RESTORE Soo

4|j| '>■. « ;■« BEEP .B

ET~li=7:^ff T?7, ■ PET ,.=2

1030 PRimt ■ 33

^ LAME OvEP" ^LRo

„X' •■PRESS RNY kIy'|^xp’'K fii BLRSH

Q — left W — right SYMBOL SHIFT—jump

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PAINTBOXJsgl

TV Effects machines such as QuanteTs
Paintbox and Mirage are as far above com-
mon-or~garden home micros as a Lam¬
borghini is to a dustcart. It seems there is
literally nothing these devices can't achieve
by way of graphics and image manipula¬
tion. They are truly the State of the Art. But
which art? KIM ALOIS reports.

THREE O'CLOCK in the
morning and the phone was
ringing. I crawled out of bed
and fell over the cat. This had
better be good. It was Big K.
They needed information —
fast. Subject — computer¬
ised special effects in film
and video. I poured myself a
coffee and thought carefully.
This was going to be a tough
one. Reaching into a drawer
I pulled out my book of con¬
tacts and came up with two
names. The Moving Picture
Company, one of London's
biggest video companies
who also had a large film
special effects unit; and The
Digital Picture Company who
specialise in solid computer
graphics. State of the art
stuff, this, hyias going to be
good. -i#'

First stop was The Moving
Picture Company where I met
Maggie Allison, the produc¬
tion manager.

MOTION CONTROL

We approached a small
black door at the end of a
dimly lit corridor. 'This is

Motion Control'Maggie said.

We walked in and were con¬
fronted by something that
looked like Stevenson's
Rocket left in the clutches of
a berserk chimp with a Mec¬
cano set.

'Hello' it said. I retrieved my
jaw from the floor and pushed
it firmly back onto the bottom
of my face. Obviously the
situation needed reassess¬
ing. Then a small ginger head

poked through a massive
tangle of wires like an orange
on a plate of spaghetti. 'Hi'
said the head. 'This is Peter
Trucker said Maggie, 'he's in
charge here'. Maggie asked
Pete for a demonstration and
he walked over to the control
desk. Hands flew across the
keyboard, producing a totally
incomprehensible array of

"ti.

figures on the plasma dis¬
play. Suddenly, with no
warning, the beast flew along
its tracks, a camera on the
front gyrating crazily. Pete
pointed to a monitor screen
above the control desk and
we watched a spaceship hy
in from the distance, do a vic¬
tory roll and then disappear
out of the top of the screen. A
quick glance down the end of
the studio revealed that the
spaceship was in fact a
model, the impression of
movement being given solely
by movement of the camera
on the Rig.

So what is Motion Control?
Remember Star Wars? All
those X-Wing fighters and Ty-
fighters in eternal conflict?
They were all models filmed
on a Motion Control rig, simi¬
lar to this one, in the States.
Essentially it's a robot cam¬
era which can move in ways
that would make the average
cameraman go green.

Basically this rig is a large
aluminium framework with a
movie camera on the front.
Within this framework is a
mass of pulleys, cogs and
motors all dedicated to mov¬
ing and focussing the cam¬
era. Mini angle stepper
motors are used for move¬
ment, each pulse generating
2.5 degrees of movement,
which means that bythetime
they've been geared down
very fine positioning can be
achieved.

All this is controlled by the
computer. A twin Z80 IMC
(International Motion Con¬
trol), purpose built for this
type of application. Big
enough for Pete to use as a
work desk, it drives twelve
motor control boards which
in turn pulse the steppers on
the Rig. Simple innit?

The ability to repeat moves
accurately is one of the big¬
gest advantages of the
system. One of the most
complicated jobs Pete worked

on was the title sequence for
BBC's 'The Natural World'.
Six discs fly into the picture
one after the other and hover
on top of each other. Once
they're all in position a globe
wipes up and over them, the
edges of the discs forming the
latitude lines. Each disc was
filmed separately flying into
frame. Just as one might
expect the computer has all
sorts of tricks up its sleeve.
Programming in basic moves
is fairly simple once you get
used to the way the thing
works, but hidden in the
depths of the machine are all
sorts of routines for different
effects. For instance you can
have the camera do a time
exposure on each frame and
at a preset moment, say half¬
way through exposure, make
the Rig move. The result on

filmjs''a moving object with a
streaked 'tail' behind it. The
length of the tail can be var¬
ied during the shoot so that
it's made to 'catch up' with
the model.

The Moving Picture Com¬
pany rig is unique, built from
scratch on the premises. As
Pete put it, 'We thought, whart
the hell, we can do it better
than anyone else — so we
bought lathes and milling
machines and did it our-
selves'x

THE THING about most
systems is that they need a
trained operator to make
them any more than an
impressive piece of useless
junk. Quantel's Paintbox, on

Not just TVFX, but
you r actua I Artshow
stuff as well. The
series of Caves was
shown using Quan-
tie's Paintbox —
from the end — user
point of view, a for¬
mica tablet and a
scruffy old bit of
pencil — then
coloured and over-
layed to form a
showpiece cata¬
logue cover (left).
Total of instantly
accessible shades:
a lousy sixteen. But
mix'em together as
if they were paint
and this number
exponents uphill to
a call 30 million. Roll
over imagitte!

Access time for
any one image
using Paintbox is
1.5 seconds. How¬
ever frames can be
stored on film or
video tape and then
run as fast as you
like.

‘.filMtWIlit ^ OLViim •

name, got it wrong and tried
again. Time to let an expert
take over. That's where Anne
Tilby, one of The Moving Pic¬
ture Company's designers,
came in. I'd given her a few
pictures of myself to play
around with on Paintbox.
Something I might come to
regret. I watched as she
started work. Oh my God!!

The whole concept of
Paintbox keeps all the com¬
plex workings completely
hidden from the user. He
doesn't even need a key¬
board. The piece of formica
is in fact a digitising tablet,
the pencil a stylus and under¬
neath is hidden a complex

the other hand, has been
designed so that a complete
technical moron can get
results at a first sitting.

I switched into Complete
Technical Moron mode and
sat down at Paintbox. A video
monitor, a piece of formica
and a pencil on the end of a
wire lay in front of me. I picked
up the pencil and tried writ¬
ing with it. 'It's broken' I cried.
A savage backhander caught
me from behind. 'Look at the
screen, idiot' screamed Mag¬
gie. Was she tiring of me so
soon? I looked at the screen
and there, sure enough, was
a faithful reproduction of my
scrawl. I tried writing my

comes the good bit. Paint a
blob of colour on the mixing
area, pick up another colour
and mix it into the first one to
get another colour. Grand
total of colours available:
sixteen million! Van Gogh eat
ya heart out.. .

Obviously all of this would
be totally useless if created
images couldn't be kept.
Images can be saved to disc,
both complete images and
cutouts, and called back in an
instant. Acccess time for one
image is 1.5 seconds. Pretty

system for drawing anything
producable with traditional
drawing materials, and more,
but electronically.

Using the system is sim¬
plicity itself. Draw with the
stylus on the digitising tablet
and the result comes up on
the monitor. But there's more
to itthan that. Wipe the stylus
across the screen and the
pallette appears, a grid con¬
taining thirty predefined
colours and a row of various
sizes. Touch the stylus on a
colour and the stylus 'picks
up' the colour. Touch one of
the dots to select your brush
size and away you go. Then

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CARD NO.

NAME_

ADDRESS-

■ SIGNATURE-

BK8

impressive when you con¬
sider that each frame uses
over a megabyte of informa¬
tion. In addition to this there
is a hardware framestore
capable of holding up to
twenty-five images. Images
can be pulled onto the screen
fast enough to be animated
in real time. This makes it
ideal for the animator who
can view his work in an
instant and alter it in seconds.
Hard copy can be taken on
Polaroid, colour slide, 35mm
movie film or video tape and
by the same token images can
be taken from either film or
video.

The possibilities are mind-
blowing. Imagine it — you're
making an advert for face
cream and your leading lady
turns up after a night on the
tiles, bags under her eyes and
a face full of zits. Panic? No
way. Make your film, put it
into Paintbox, touch up the
blotches and put it straight
back on film. No problem.
Richard Dean, one of The
Moving Company's direc¬
tors, made the TV commer¬
cial for Hills Samuels, the
merchant bankers. He used
the same technique to make
a whole square mile of Lon¬
don appear to drop from the
clouds on a massive column
of rock!

In typo mode Paintbox can
be used as a very compre¬
hensive type-setting facility.
Up to six hundred fonts are
available and these can be
rotated, enlarged or reduced,
have shadows, be embossed
or given thickness.

All this has some pretty
impressive hardware sup¬
porting it. Each picture con-

use on Top of the Pops?) but
none quite so versatile. Pre¬
viously facilities were limited
to a predefined set of effects
designed by the machine's
manufacturers. Need a new
effect? Buy a new machine.
Mirage has put a stop to all
that. Now if you need a new
effect you just program it in.
As we saw before the effects
can be previewed as a wire¬
frame and adjusted if neces¬
sary, then all you need Is a
piece of video to put in it.
What it does is take the video
frame by frame as it comes in
and make each point on the
image directly addressable as
a memory location. Of course
this is a vast oversimplifica¬
tion. The way the addresses
are stored is complicated
because each point bears no
relationshiptothe next point.
For example, in an explosion
effect, the relationship is
totally random. Neverthe¬
less, Quantel have sorted it
out because the system works
like a dream. There's not
much you can't do with it. I'd
seen the showreel earlierand
the screen image was all over
the place, the corner can be
lifted and folded over like a
page turning or rolled into
cylinders, cones or globes
and moved all over the screen
at reduced or enlarged size.
Even transparent and
exploded images are pos¬
sible. Mirage can also cope
with two images. For example
in a simple page turn effect,
the second image can be
revealed on the back of the
first.

Normally Mirage is pro¬
grammed first and then con¬
nected to an edit suite where

fragments. Poor lady.

DIGITAL PICTURES

DIGITAL Pictures live in a
basement in downtown Cov¬
ent Garden.

We decided to have a look
at their showreel first. I was
impressed — I mean
IMPRESSED. 3D letters from
an Imperial Tobacco ad logo
flew into shot and settled into
position one after the other.
You'd never know it was a
computer graphic. The title
sequence from Weekend
World, due to go out in
autumn, showed flyovers of
the major cities of the world.
The detail was amazing.
'What kind of pixel resolution
do you have here', I asked.
'About two thousand by fif¬
teen hundred'. Producer Pete
Florence remarked casually.

Digital Pictures is one of
only two facilities for solid
computer graphics in Eng¬
land. Only a year ago it meant
a trip to the States. The pro¬
blems involved are frighten¬
ing. If you want to get any
detail at all then the memory
requirements are horren¬
dous. At Digital Pictures each
frame of animation uses 9Mb
of data. What the hell do you
do with that kind of informa¬
tion? Here they use two Data
General C330 minis. Because
of a bit of internal mucking
about they can address 1Mb
of memory. Just in case that
ain't enough they've each got
a 92Mb hard disc as back-up
store. Good enough? 'They're
a bit outmoded really', resi¬
dent expert Paul Brown
remarked casually. Hard discs
outmoded? He saw the look
on my face and continued,
'yeah, we thought about
bubble memory but it's a bit
slow. So we're thinking about
laser disc at the moment. Give
us a few gigabytes to play
around with and we'll really
have some fun'.

The real heart of the system
is a QLRD Hi-Res film
recorder, pointing straight at
a Mitchell cine camera.

We took a closer look at the
hi-res film recorder. This was
the piece of gear responsible
for putting the digital image
on film. It decodes the Infor¬
mation from the Data Gener¬
als, turns it into an RGB signal
and puts it onto a hi-res, flat
screen tube in front of the
Mitchell.

The actual computing for
this lot is handled by the two
Data Generals, all the soft¬
ware written in-house by Paul
and his oppo Chris Briscoe.
How do they get complicated
shapes on the screen?
Description of the objects is
handled by a piece of soft¬
ware known as a Modeller.
Shapes are built up using
polygons, easily (???!) con¬
trolled mathematically and
smoothed off by a method
called 'Fong shading'. Once
the modeller has finished its
work the Scripter takes over.
This is used to place and
move the objects.

The images produced at
Digital Pictures are impres¬
sive — there's no doubt about
that — but reality is some¬
thing that needs to be worked
on. 'The problem is that this
method is not the same as
the way the eye sees reality',
said Paul. In Japan they're
looking at a recursive method
that emulates the scattering
effect of light. He showed me
some pictures, a tray of
globes, same transparent,
some reflecting. They were
as real as you could wish. The
problem with recursive
methods is memory. With
9Mb if you take each point
down through just a few lev¬
els of recursion you're talk¬
ing big megs. 'We're working
on it. . . some time next year
we should be able to do this'.

The mind boggles.

tains just over one megabyte
of information and because
the system interacts with a
user this info needs to be
processed fast. You can't
muck about with megs on a
Spectrum so they whopped a
mainframe behind it. Images,
cutouts, etc, are stored as files
on a 168Mb Winchester
alongside a couple of Mb of
system data.

But does it play games?

MIRAGE

Mirage is made by Quan¬
tel, the makers of Paintbox,
and is a machine for manip¬
ulating video imagery in real
time. Of course there were
existing systems for doing
this prior to Mirage (remem¬
ber some of the effects they

the video image is put in. It's
possible, however, to use it
in live television. Effects can
be programmed beforehand
and then called up on the air.
There are also a set of pre¬
programmed routines for
simple effects like page turns
and cylinders that can be
called up by a non program¬
mer.

'OK, ready', a voice came
over an intercom. We looked
at the screen and the wire¬
frame we had seen earlier
was replaced by a woman's
face. As we watched the
image went through all the
contortions we had seen the
wire-frame go through, fold¬
ing into a cylinder, rolling
around the screen and finally
exploding into a mass of

The author after finishing this article in short order.

Pick of
fhecroD

First they shook everybody
up with a truly scary television
commercial — produced at a
cost of roughly £300,000 and
directed by Alien's Ridley
Scott. The spot suggested the
best way to avoid George
Orwell's 1984 was to purchase
a Macintosh.

Then Apple really shook
everybody up by actually pro¬
ducing the Macintosh on time
and right on the money. While
the famed IBM PC was resort¬
ing to price-cutting, Apple had
people lined up around the
block to purchase the mighty
Mac at full retail price.

When IBM released their
much ballyhooed PCjr, con¬
sumers took one look at the
PCjr and turned their noses up
... as did many critics. Priced
close to the Apple He — Apple
experienced an increase in
sales of both the Mac and the
Me.

PORTABLE

Then Apple announced a
cheaper, somewhat more
portable version of the Me
called the He — now being
hocked In the UK. It runs most
of the software written for the
Apple 11 series, and Industry
analysists Immediately gave It
the thumbs up sign. They pre¬
dicted the He would outsell the
PCjr this year, in spite of IBM's
four month head-start.

Not bad for a company that,
a year ago, some people
thought would belly up.

But the best was yet to

come. Shortly after May Day,
Atari's chief scientist Alan Kay
defected to Apple Computer
Inc.

In the high-stakes computer
game, programmers and
designers are like movie stars
and Kay is Robert Redford.
Atari was counting on him to
help them engineer their
reconstruction. He delivered
— until this spring.

Now 43 years old, Kay a dec¬
ade ago was an integral part
of Xerox's computer develop¬
ment team. That team
invented a little thing called
the personal computer — an
item Xerox passed over as
having little consumer poten¬
tial. Look, everybody makes
mistakes.

WHISTLE

Interestingly, some of the
technology that went into that
embryonic Xerox PC hadn't
surfaced until last year, when
Apple released the original
Lisa. It bombed, but Its bells
and whistles were plowed
over into the Macintosh. With
the Xerox-inspired windows
and the mouse, Alan Kay
should feel right at home.

Kay's a visionary. Whereas
he diplomatically thinks the
MaclsO.K.,the IBM PC is—in
Kay's words — "beneath com¬
ment".

Atari's loss is Apple's gain.
They're trying to recover from
last year's $500 million loss,
and Kay's changing teams will
hurt.

Let's see if Atari strikes
back...

Stateside Chatter ... To no
one's surprise, among the first
programs available for the
Macintosh are games— Tran¬
sylvania, The Quest and The
Coveted Mirror, from Penguin
Software. And they said the
Mac's mouse and black and
white would be useless for
gaming.

By the way, if you take apart
the Mac's ROM, you will dis¬
cover built-in routines that
allow for color capability.

Over on the Apple H series,
Addison Wesley is now pro¬
ducing four so-called non-vio¬
lent games designed for girls.
Lauren of the 25th Century,
Jenny of the Prairie, Chelsea
of the South Sea Islands, and
Cave Girl Clair. The company
should be congratulted for
trying to bring girls into the
male-dominated hobby, but
they are naive if they honestly
believe this "nonviolence"
stuff is anything more than a
marketing gimmick geared to
overly protective parents.
Ever see a girl play Pac-Man?

These guys also have some¬
thing else up their sleeves:
they will be releasing some of
their own software in formats
compatible with Apple 11, IBM
and Atari standards. Sounds
fair; that's just what Atari did
to Commodore.

And there is an intriguing
rumour going about that the
home entertainment giant
RCA is about to establish a
"relationship" with Commo¬
dore that will give birth to
some sort of joint venture.
Best bet: Commodore will
produce the goods for RCA's
long-expectea micro entry.

On the other hand, when
RCA trashed their CED video-

A year ago, folks were writing off once-mighty
Apple. Today those crunchy Californians have
shown the rest of us what comebacks are all
about. MIKE GOLD reports ...

BOY, APPLE sure has had a
good year.

disc system they suffered their
biggest failure since one of
their communications satel¬
lites spun-off into outer space.
The CED was inferior to the
laserdisc system but outsold it
four-to-one.

This is good news for gam¬
ers, as there was much con¬
cern that the high-quality
laserdisc arcade games {Drag¬
on's Lair was the first) would
be home-released in the more
popular CED system, sacrific¬
ing some of the quality and
most of the durabilityfound in
the laser version.

There's a ton of new stuff
available for Coleco games,
and lo and behold, some of it
is even from Coleco! A new
driving game, tie-ins with
WarGames and those ugly,
obnoxious Cabbage Patch
dolls, carts from Imagic, Epyx
... and from Atarisoft: Galax-
ian, Pole Position Jungle Hunt,
Moon Patrol and Joust.

Coleco's even releasing
some of their already popular
games in the enhanced Adam
format. So now the only ques¬
tion is ... have the gamers
already given up on Coleco?

Also: Sunrise Software's
Campaign '84, a mock-up of
the American pre-election
campaign rituals. Over here,
we turn our presidential elec¬
tions into a year-long three
ring circus, and Sunrise man¬
aged to capture most of it:
candidates must choose their
position on volatile issues
without offending too many
special interest groups while
at the same time dodging rov¬
ing TV reporters. This game
might not seem as funny after
the election. Available for
Coleco.

[55

BIG K BOOKS

It may come as a surprise to some of you characters, but words can exist in
forms other than coalescences of pixels in a tasteful shade of amber.

To renew our acquaintance with the olde worlde of vellum, cuttlefish ink
and teams of monks labouring on multi-coloured character-sets, we pulled
a few recently published books off the shelves.

STEP-BY-STEP
PROGRAMMING on the
BBC MICRO
(IAN GRAHAM: Dorling
Kindersley "Screen Shot"
£5.95)

A s letters to BIG K

^continually prove, there is
no sign yet of any lack of
interest in good first-user
manuals for the more popular
machines,. Such manuals
have been unusally slow to
arrive, but perhaps we have a
contender in the excellently-
produced Screen Shot series,
reviewed here for BBC but
also available for Spectrum,
Electron, Apple II and CBM 64
computers.

The format is easy-to-
follow without being
patronising or childish,
clearly and expertly written
with the best layout I have yet
seen in a book of this sort.
Totally absent are the

gaucheries of American
manuals, or the obscurity of
some British ones. Each of
the large-format pages is
dedicated to a particular
statement or function, and
examples are given and, best
of all, superbly illustrated
with actual screen dumps.

Considering the production
quality and care that has gone
into this series, their price of
£5.95 begins to look far better
value than anything else
reviewed on these pages.

Rich colours illustrate
sections on colour, for
example — what you see is
(for once) really what you get.
Outstandingly good and for
beginners or semi-beginners,
heavily recommended.

S0“D0RKMER”

1

\i A m\i

l(

VARIABIE

I

C

ES

THE COMPUTER &

VIDEO GAMES 6001^3^
OF ADVENTURE
(KEITH CAMPBELL:
Melbourne House £5.t
EXPLORING ADVEf
ON THE BBC MODELS
(PETER GERRARD:
Duckworth £6.95)

5)

As mentioned
r\elsewhere on this
page, adventure
theory never suffers
from explanation.

For that reason
there's no shortage
of explainers. Both these
books tackle the subject
fairly, with Campbell using
his theoretical bits to
construct one well-
explained master program;
while Gerrard manages to

give us three in about 40%
more space. Both men
clearly know their stuff, but
where Campbell bravely
takes on the entire field of
microdom, Gerrard
addresses one machine
solely—perhaps the least
suitable for adventures, the
BBC 'B' machine. Using
either book you could learn
the essentials of adventure¬
writing — or you coo/d just
go out and buy The Quill.

WBOIC-HEillE

O n the way: Inimical Games
for your IBM Computer.
Quirky Games for your QL
Computer and Pedestrian
Games for your PDP-11 Com¬
puter, all by good ol' Hal and
Sam. Or not, as the case may
be. And guess what! They'll
probably be the same twenty-
five or so games listings as we
have here, since what Hal and
Sam have dished up for Com-

CRAZY GAMES FOR YOUR COMMODORE 64
(HAL RENKO & SAM EDWARDS: Addison-Wesley £3.95)
AWESOME GAMES FOR YOUR ATARI COMPUTER
(HAL RENKO & SAM EDWARDS: Addison-Wesley £3.95)
ASTOUNDING GAMES FOR YOUR APPLE COMPUTER
(HAL RENKO & SAM EDWARDS: Addison-Wesley £3.95)

modore in this fine, fine collec- those two other 6502
tion, they also dish up — give machines, the Apple and the
or take a listing or two — for Atari. Are the games any good?

Who knows? Probably. After all,
to survive this kind of whole¬
sale transplantation they have
to be. These books are of course
American buy-ins, and are
pitched at the new user athirst
to type, but not keen to under¬
stand any of it. One stage up
(or down) from simply buying
software and running it (in
which case Hal and Sam are
definitely cheaper), and one
stage up (or down) from buy¬
ing a load of computer maga¬
zines (in which case Sam and
Hal who average 20 pence a
listing, are decidedly more
expensive). In the last analysis.
I've a feeling that Brit buyers
will want some documenta¬
tion with their wall-to-wall glee.
Cheap at the price — or just
cheap, depending on your out¬
look, I guess.

ir OVER1,500 GAMES TO PLAT

Software Index is the magazine guide to the
thousands of Software Programs available in shops
and by post.

It’s packed full with GAMES Software—what
the games are and where to buy them.

PLUS Over 700 Educational programs
;are covered as well.

Don’t miss out

v,idecho«ce...t^»=

I In your newsagents NOW

It’s the only guide to software programs for the eight top Micros.
BBC VIC 20 SPECTRUM

COMMODORE 64 ORIC I/ATMOS ZX 81

DRAGON ATARI 400/800

User Guide to Microcomputer Software

mez

1984 No.3 £1.50

MEGASAVE FANTASTIC
SAVINGS

SPECTRUM

SABRE WULF.8.25

PSYTRON.6.30

MUGSY.5.95

JACKS BEANSTALK.4.95

FIGHTER PILOT.6.25

TORNADO LOW LEVEL . , . 4.75

HULK.8.50

LORDS OF MIDNIGHT. . . . 8.50

KOSMICKANGA.5.10

JET SET WILLY.4.75

BEAKY.4.85

AD ASTRA.4.95

NIGHT GUNNER.5.50

FOOTBALL MAMAGER . . , 5.55

TRASHMAN.4.75

MOON ALERT.4.90

ANTICS.5.75

WARS OF THE WORLD . . . 6.75

LES FLICS.5.50

CAVELON.4.95

TUTENKAMEN.4.95

DOOMSDAY CASTLE .... 5,30

DEATHCHASE.5.25

HARRIER ATTACK.4,95

SCUBA DIVE.4.75

WHEELIE.4.95

CAVERN FIGHTER.4.95

TRIBBLE TRUBBLE.4.95

GLUGGLUG.4,75

TIME BOMB.4.75

KRAKATOA.4.75

DEFENDA.4.75

FRED.5.90

3D ANT ATTACK.5.90

BUGABOO.5.90

SNOWMAN.5.90

VALHALLA.11.50

MESS FROM ANDROMEDA. 4.75

DUNGEON MASTERS. . . , 6.25

LORD OF TIME.8.50

SPECTRUM

ATICATAC.4.75

AUTOMANIA.5.75

BLUE THUNDER.4,75

INFERNO.5.50

CODE NAME MAT. 5 20

MILLIONAIRE.4,50

COOKBOOK.8.50

SINK THE TITANIC.6,75

SPECGRAPH.8.25

COSMIC CRUISER.4.25

WORLD CUP F'BALL .... 5.95

WORSE THINGS H'P'N AT SEA 4.95

QUILL.10.75

H.U.R.G.10.99

BLADE ALLEY.4,75

3DLUNAAnACK.4.75

CAESAR THE CAT.5.95

PYRAMID.4.95

ANDROID II.4.75

AUFWIEDERSEHENPET. , 4,95

DRAGONS BANE.5,90

FACTORY BREAKOUT . , , 4,95

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL. 8 50

HOBBIT.11.50

FANTASIA DIAMOND .... 6.25

FULL THROTTLE.5,95

ORC ATTACK.6.10

TOWER OF EVIL.6.10

BBC

FORTRESS.7.25

F'BALL MANAGER.6.50

BLAGGER.6.50

THE HULK.6,50

VIC-20

FLIGHT 737 . 6,50

TOWER OF EVIL.5.45

COMMPUTERWAR.5.45

SUB COMMANDER.5.45

TANK COMMANDER.5.45

CHARIOT RACE.5.95

SON OF BLAGGER . . .

, , 6.50

BEACH HEAD.

. , 8.50

VALHALLA.

. .11.50

QUILL.

. .11.50

SHEEP IN SPACE , . . .

. , 6.40

GYROPOD .

. . 5.50

LOCO.

. . 6.50

HULK.

, . 8.50

ARABIAN KNIGHTS , , .

. , 5.85

SOLO FLIGHT.

. .12.50

BOZO'S NIGHT OUT. . .

. . 5.50

STAR TROOPER ....

. . 5.75

CAVELON .

. . 5.55

ENCOUNTER .

. . 8.75

HOUSE OF USHER , , ,

, . 5.85

CHUCKIEEGG.

. . 5.60

BONGO .

. . 6.30

OLYMPIC SKIER.

, . 4,99

ALL£7INTERCEPTOR. ,

. , 5.85

ALL £7.95 ANIROG . . .

. . 6.30

TRASHMAN .

, , 6.85

BLUE THUNDER.

, , 5.85

BLACK HAWK.

. . 6.95

QUARK .

. . 6.85

ANDROID II.

, . 5.90

WHEELIN WALLY ....

, . 5.85

FLIGHT PATH 737 ... .

, . 6.30

KILLER WATT.

. , 6.25

PYRAMID.

, , 5.50

GILLIGANSGOLD, . . .

, . 5.75

PINBALL WIZARD. , . .

. . 5.75

SUPER PIPELINE ....

. . 5.50

AZTEC CHALLENGE . ,

, , 7.50

CAVERNS OF KAFKA . .

. . 7.50

FORBIDDEN FOREST. .

. . 7.50

CLASSIC ADVENTURE .

, . 5.95

SECRET MISSION. . . ,

. . 8.50

VOODOO CASTLE . . .

, . 8.50

ADVENTURE LAND , , .

. , 8.50

PIRATE ADVENTURE . ,

. , 8.50

FREE POST

PLEASE STATE WHICH MICRO
SEND CHEQUE/P.O. TO:

FAST SERVICE

MEGASAVE
Dept K, 76 Westbourne Terrace, London W2

MAIL ORDER ADVERTISING

British Code of Advertising Practice

Advertisements in this publication are required to conform to
the British Code of Advertising Practice. In respect of mail order
advertisements where money is paid in advance, the code
requires advertisers to fulfil orders within 28 days, unless a
longer delivery period is stated. Where goods are returned
undamaged within seven days, the purchaser's money must be
refunded. Please retain proof of postage/despatcti, as this may
be needed.

Mail Order Protection Scheme

If you order goods from Mail Order advertisements in this
magazine and pay by post in advance of delivery, BIG K will
consider you for compensation if the Advertiser should become
insolvent or bankrupt, provided:

(1 )You have notreceivedthegoodsorhadyourmoneyreturned;
and

(2) You writetothe Publisherof BIG Ksummarisingthesituation
not earlier than 28 daysfromthedayyousentyourorderand not
later than two months from that day.

Please do not wait until the last momentto inform us. When you
write, we will tell you how to make your claims and what
evidence of payment is required.

We guarantee to meet claims from readers made in accordance
with the above precedence as soon as possible after the
Advertiser has been
declared bankrupt or insolvent.

This guarantee covers only advance payment sent in direct
response to an advertisementinthis magazine not, for example,
payment made in response to catalogues etc., received as a
result of answering such advertisements. Classified advertise¬
ments are excluded.

1

-N

Now YOU can go for gold

..withthe Mi\0Ro,

Fancy pitting yourself against the world's
best at this summer's Olympics?

You can do so without going anywhere
near Los Angeles - with the most
challenging package of programs of 1984.

MICRO OLYMPICS is more than a
game. It's a brilliantly written collection of
ELEVEN track and field events.

And because we know we're going to
sell many thousands of them we've brought
the price right down - to just £5.95.

Ever imagined yourself as another Seb
Coe? Then try to run against the world
record holder at 1500 metres. And if that
distance is too much for you then there's
always the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres
to have a go at.

Not much good at running? Don't worry,
MICRO OLYMPICS has many more
challenges for you. Why not try your skill at
the high jump or the long jump?

And if you can't beat the computer at
running or jumping then you can always
throw things around in frustration! The
trouble is that it's just as hard to be a
champion at the discus, the hammer or the
javelin.

And the pole vault takes the event to
new heights!

Yes, it's fast, furious fun, pitting
yourself against the world's best times and
distances on your micro.

You may not be another Steve Ovett or
Alan Wells, but with practice you COULD
become the Micro Olympics Champion!

Also available from WHSmith
and all other leading stores

Play Micro Olympics
— and let your fingers
do the running!

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

■ li

Please send me.

. copy/copies of

Micro Olympics at £5.95
□ I enclose cheque made payable to
Database Publications Ltd.
for £__

I wish to pay by □ Access □ Visa
No-Expiry date^

□ 48k Spectrum

□ Commodore 64

^£5.95

□ BBC'B'

□ Electron

"each

Please tick box

Signed^

Name_

Address-

Post to: Micro Olympics offer, Database Publications,
68 Chester Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport SK7 5NY.

SHEAR PANIC
THE BLACK SQUID
THE CONSTRUCTOR
I SPY FOR KIDS LANDER
PRIMARY MATHS
MATHS TUTOR TODDLER TUTOR
'GOTCHA' MATHS
ASTRAL ZONE

CHnnnEL

51 Fishergate, Preston,
Lancs PR1 8BH.

Tel: (0772) 53057

(BSOFTliJflRr

OTHER
CHANNEL 8
SOFTWARE
TITLES

curse too
loud if you cani get him back to
his ship.

FEASIBILITY EXPERIMENT
TEN LITTLE INDIANS
THE WIZARD AKYRZ
iRROW OF DEATH PT. 1

ESCAPE FROM PULSAR 7

THE GOLDEN BATON
ARROW OF DEATH PT. 2
PERSEUS & ANDROMEDA
THE TIME MACHINE
WAXWORKS CIRCUS

o

Selected titles available from larger branches of Greens at Debenhams, Lewis's, Spectrum dealers

and good computer shops everywhere, (in case of difficulty send P.O. or Cheque direct).

WaOVICE! boost you^^

^COLLECTION WITH SWOO^
FELIX IN THE FACTORY
AND CY8ERTR0N .

L MISSION! M

MICRO POWER LTD.,
NORTHWOOD HOUSE, NORTH STREET,
LEEDS LS7 2AA TEL: (0532) 458800

SELECTIVE BRANCHES OF BOOTS, CO-OP,
MENZIES, W. H. SMITH, WOOLWORTHS AND ALL
GOOD DEALERS.

AUTHORS! WE PAY 20% ROYALTIES! I

commodore

^MSUPER-FAST LOADING TIME)

electron

B.B.C. MICRO

Run through the \

creepy mansion * '

to rescue the

power jewels. Dodge ghostly
ghouls and bouncing spiders, leap
over poison-smeared spikes,
scamper along moving platforms
and contracting floorboards,
and use powerful springs to
propel you onto overhanging
ledges. Superb animation
and spine-tingling
sound effects.

£6.95.

(ELEaRON and
BBC MICRO
versions
£7.95)

COMMODORE 64 VERSION

^GAMf^
M/0

QUALITY ARCADE ACTION GAMES FOR THE

COMMODORE 64«^£7.95

The earth is being c :^&7
invaded by an aiien
force, the GALAXiONS have
arrived from a dying pianet, determined
to destroy civiiization as we know it.

They come in formation, swooping and
diving towards the pianet earth. You and
you aione can save mankind from the
terrifying destruction the aiiens threaten
us with.

mvmIiiimM

fantastic version
of this popuiar
arcade game. Vvi

^ < «!« Guide Thomas the cat

♦he 13 wails of SOLAR
street to his iady friend,
'3^|^^who awaits him on the end
wail, but beware of
♦he flying boots,
Qj ^ ^ bottles and mops, which are
just a few of the hazards you will encounter.

Guide Boris up the ladders, to collect a coin
trom the top of the screen, but beware! the
bogy men are out to get you. He must return
to the bottom ot the screen, avoiding the
bogy men and insert the coin in the electric

meter. The lights will
come on enabling you
||||llgg^BB^L|||^to see the pitch fork, and
jpr after retrieving it, kill the
bogy men.

In days of old when

knights were bold and

the sheriff was in power, 11^

to play this game guide Robin Hood,

to Marian locked up in the tower.

WKXmtDEDVKX
Su^T&tea4aut £5*00 MVRcliiiM £5*00

S<iuuM!c £5*00(inLflXiaiS £5*00
6UNFX6KT £5*00
PSTEROyOS £5*00

I a&16KEXRmi£DVICX

' fmkS,7.9S ^

When teddy to the picnic went
there came the smell of honey
So off he went to find the Jy
hive to fill his empty tummy. ^
The bees that guard honey
pots are sharpening up ^
their stings as teddy fills his¥

. empty turn sweet melodysr
he sings. a,

^ All our games are available mail order P&P included —

/ from the above address. Orders sent by return post. \

\ Also available from all good computer shops. /

Distribution, RC.S. Darwen, CENTRE SOFT West Midlands. TIGER Cheshire. LIGHTNING London. LEISURESOFT Northampt<5?
Rfl COMPUTER GAMES Barnsley, FIVE D SOFTWARE East Harling. COMPUTER WORLD UK Bolton,

FERRANTI & CRAIG LTD Wiltshire, VICSOFT Slough, DRAKE DISTRIBUTION Plymouth

n iLus

t

1

BIG K BOOKS

By TONY TYLER

ADVENTURE GAMES FOR THE COMMODORE 64 (R. J.
BRADBURY: Granada £6.95)

COMMODORE 64 GAMES (KEVIN BERGIN: Duckworth
£6.95)

GAMES COMMODORE 64 COMPUTERS PLAY (ROBERT
YOUNG & ROGER BUSH: Addison-Wesley £6.95)
COMMODORE 64 GRAPHICS AND SOUND (STEVE
MONEY: Granada £6.95)

i

I

UMOMHU

W hy £6.95? What is it
about this particular
price figure that makes it
so right, so appropriate for
publishers of computer
books? In fact it's a truism
that most computer books
are ludicrously overpriced,
certainly compared to
computer magazines. The
assembly and (more
importantly)
documentation of a

handful of decent games
for the ubiquitous 64 is not
the easiest job in the
world, true, but neither is it
the hardest. Young and

Bush give us a mixed bag
of twenty, all nicely listed
in "untranslated"
versions) which on the
whole is sensible). But on

the whole they don't go as
far as they might into this
business of explanation.

Better in this regard is
Kevin Bergin; he provides
18 games, more randomly
mixed. Arcade games
chase short adventures
chase utilities through the
list — each of these, by the
way, is the size of a good-
sized magazine version.

Granada's two offerings,
by Bradbury and Money,
balance equally between
how-to manualism and
example listings. Certainly
there is a need for
specialist volumes on the
64 to explain all those
things the offical manual
leaves out. Both these
books are well thought-out
and Money's can also
serve as a dedicated
games-writing manual.
Bradbury takes us deep
into adventure theory —
sentence parsing,
grandfather-father-
objects, cell structure for
locations, and so forth.

The tortuous splitting-off
involved in adventure
structure is very clearly
explained throughout.

SPECTRA VIDEO COMPUTING (IAN
SINCLAIR: Granada £6.95)

THE MICRO USER'S BOOK OF
TAPE RECORDING (MIKE SALEM:
Duckworth £2.95)

D espite glowing reviews when
they first appeared about six
months ago, the Spectravideo
range of computers (two, actually)
have not yet exactly taken off like
polecats. Perhaps, as MSX draws
near, their time will come. In the
meantime Granada, clearly with
one eye on MSX, have issued a
decent first-user manual for the
cheaper Spectra machine, written
by the respected Ian Sinclair (no
relation). It's an honest and
reasonably thorough piece of work.

no frills, and I like the way Sinclair
owned up to the fact that he'd
found no way to re-program the
function keys.

Assuming tape recording is your
thing and the sight of reels rotating
sends you into spasms of ecstasy,
Mike Salem's lot (geddit?) of
knowledge on the subject should fill
you with joy. Mysterious sub-topics
like Head Azimuth Angle and
Cassette Interface Waveforms — all
perfectly useful stuff. I'll be bound
— grace the 90 pages of this
slimline but learned little tome.
Scrap that disc! Dump that EPROM I
Cassette and all other forms of
slinky brown stuff are here to stay.
At least, if they're not, then Mike
Salem is in bad trouble.

w = u

X = POWN
S = FIRE
D = FORWARD
A = STOP

There you are, lifting off
the surface of Planet
Electro In the warm dusk
of an early September
evenin^lnside the ship
— a calm atmosphere.
Chip supper courtesy the
robochef. Brookside on
the VCR. The sundowner
(with ice and lemon)
nestling in the right
hand. Suddenly your
Jimmy the One says:
''Cap'n! Them mothers
out there is shootin' at
us!" You look, and sure €
enough he's right... «

PRINT "a-lTT S/OR

. cosus

■ iF'aj=''T" THEN RUN 100

•S=0-H=w, TO 2

®® liT'D-xilllia+iHTTRNIITlT*’,!;'

;v<n=iNTCRNi'<i)*ie-’+u'
it i=0 TO

;60TIint ,VHi >-s

ipPiTop I=S1S4 TO SISS^FOKE 1+30720-5

;P0'P*I fflilE then poke

POKE 1-22,104

,80”?F'RNDa:».S THEN POKE 1-22,108
210 NEXT I_

'^■^0 FOP 'Sl TO liX-<DK=e):K=rEEKa3T>
:^F K09 aNB K026 THEN ciTO
040 vU‘+'-;k-=9>-:i<=26>--IF V<1 TH&^ t-i
'T c.0 IF V>1'F THEN V=1S

260 PRINT LEFTP<B*-Vi“>»«SI.Mi »»■«

a 5’

270" IF l!X>8 THEN POKE 36b77.. IJU
” ' iPOKE 36878.‘2 • GOSUB I'yo
280 DX=DX+CK=17:'-<K=18;5

: IF DX<:0 THEN ri.«,=y _ .

*'■^0 IF IiX=0 THEN POKE 3bt>-.-.'0
Teis IF DX>2 THEN BX=2

• j"‘UKE OOOi* ♦» i- ^

•J" 5a;=iVl THEN

Z''' VCDOVH-I CR kcih...

*0 S+MTfI??.

390 PRINT LffTif+i'" -'“THEN S:=s*a,
.,.XTI,')"««Mir"“T' »iT,>LEFT4,<x,„ '

pfe

420 S=S+10fxX"“-—® 440
,,, OOTO 440^ '-‘-'-lo then

440 xaf=l4‘’^*"i,>,i0s
«0 next ,S?r ".:',;:30'POK£ 3£S73,2
«l IF fi,',‘-.^7"”"THEN SIS

^^.'■3070 560 ■'1‘-1=21i:FRInT" ■

then >ItL,'=xaT+INTTRNl

540 GOTO 560

^50^_r<U=Va>--l:;:<a)=Ka>+iHTCRNrKl>^^

570 IF X?L>v-'0^?uS

580 print LEFT|:fS?'’..?5v^“,^®

590^1'?*"', ' '^*^ET="U"THEN prin

1 "rHlH4r;r?H7.!f<P="U"THEN PRXNT

■ 35® RNIK!:;■>. 3

H 3y0 IF RHB C1> >.s

I _ _ ■ I) = 18

H 9 10 K (. I) =|k; ( j ) _ < ; I

I LEFTJ^Ki, Xd)’

I 320 PR I NT "k# siif

■ RINT"3,_”

■ 930 GOTO 9.‘=v0

■ 940 PRINT''iii "

■ 950 IF p<l:i=99 Tu

I IF.fia.d=0 Tr

I 3,-0 H(.I >=fi(: : p

I ... —•' ^ .■ H (. I )

I oi-- ^ ■ return

I .-^'30 POKE 36S?8d5
I ,. 1=1 TO .Tfii:

I 1000 POKE 36873:4-;

I V+l>.;LEFTi<Xf.;

I - TO 75

I ‘U10 L=7710+v.^22:l
I 1 ■; RND C1) *■ I >; Pfif;'
1020 Ll=INT.;RNri(i)
1000 L=L+Ll3*i22: if'
i,^c® .E>8185 THE

10%j0 POKE 'SEiPE'Si+L
I 1060 POKE 8687^^4
1070 FOR

m® POKE 138..0:POI

uw pIwT'-Sf 4

1^00 PRINT PL

i'S'*® "m<i-up‘'

i.£i0 PRINT ".v-nniJN"
i c:30 pP J j ii T op !t

l-^T "D-FORl-a

i-'Tpn "fi-STCP"

'"««hit t

-oiti RETURN

F10 Ka>4SL> + <K<L»7)-XX<L><;7) ,

620 V ( L>=V<L) + <<V<L><V+ 1 )-<VL.>NV+1 .•■

630 PR I NT LEFT# < D# .■ V < L > >LEFT# •. ,h#

S40444tL?>6 RND X<L><18 RND V<L:>='.‘4

4>i0S™Xa?<>99 OR RNiaX.S THEN 680
SS0 XCL}=INT(RNDa)*10>+10 ,

; V c; L >= I N T < R N D a .J #5.5+10 • F $ . L) - D

670 IF RNDa».8 THEN F#<U=:N" ^

680 FOR M=0 TO 2: IF fl<M>N25 iHEN .-lO

690 C=I NT < RND C1) #3 > •• IF X < 0 > H'?'

< n <*. 97 RND F# < C > <> " N > THEN . &0
700'fl<ri)-x<c> :Eai>=vo:>:®pj®

710 PR I NT LEFT# ( D# ^ E (. M.)LEFT#• v A# .■

* ” fl M > ) " “

720 B<;M)=B(N> + <B<t1>>V+l)-<E<M:'<Y+l;‘
730 flCf1>=R<M>+<fl<M»8>-.(fl<MK8.)

740 PRINT LEFT#CD#4B<M;'?;Lc.FT#t.A#.'

R M) ) ” "J* **

750 IF fl<rik>6 RND R<riK10 RND BCH>-t‘+
1 THEN 990
760 NEXT M

770 NEXT L-IF H<10 THEN 220
780 GOTO 990
790 FOR 1=8142 TO 8162
:POKE I..PEEK<I+1):NEXT
300 IF PEEK<7690+V3tt22)032 THEN 930
810 IF RNDC1».5 THEN POKE 8163.. 102
:GOTO 850

820 IF RND<1».5 THEN POKE 8163.104

:GOTO 850

830 IF RND< 1)>.7 THEN POKE 8163 .. 108
;GOTO 850
840 POKE 8163 ..32
850 FOR 1=0 TO 2 :

860 IF Xa »0 THEN 91 ©

370 PRINT left#(:d#..v<i>:>" ISM".;

• IF F# < I >=*' LI •' THEN PR I NT " " • i

' 2 :IF XCI >=99 THEN 95 ©

by C. MILL

blue chip ccmputers

*FREE*

POSTAGE AND PACKING ON ALL ORDERS OVER £10.00

ADD £1.00 TO ORDERS UNDER £10.00. UK MAINLAND ONLY
WESTERN EUROPE + 10%

ELSEWHERE + 15%

Grand Summer Sale SALE

We pride ourselves on a fast delivery
& customer satisfaction

AUTHORISED
TEXAS INSTRUMENT
DEALER

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS Ti99/4A

USUAL

SALE

PRICE

PRICE

Tl WRITER

£89.95

£59.95

Tl CASSETTE RECORDER

49.95

39.95

Tl CHESS

29.95

26.95

Tl MUNCHMAN

19.95

17.95

DONKEY KONG

24.95

21.95

PACK MAN

19.95

18.95

DEFENDER

19.95

18.95

Tl INVADERS

14.95

13.95

Tl 5 a side SOCCER

10.95

9.95

Tl CAR WARS

10.95

9.95

Tl ATTACK

10.95

9.95

Tl TOMBSTONE CITY

10.95

9.95

Tl ZERO ZAP

10.95

9.95

Tl MIND CHALLENGE

10.95

9.95

Tl OLDIES BUT GOODIES

10.95

9.95

TEACH YOURSELF BASIC

9.95

4.95

TEACH YOURSELF EX BASIC

13.95

9.95

PROGRAMMING AIDS 1

10.95

8.95

STARTER PACK

9.95

8.95

GAME WRITER PACK

9.95

8.95

EARLY READING

10.95

9.95

EARLY LEARNING FUN

10.95

9.95

BEGINNING GRAMMAR

10.95

9.95

ADD AND SUBTRACT N01

10.95

9.95

ADD AND SUBTRACT N02

10.95

9.95

ALIGATOR MIX

14.95

10.95

NUMBER MAGIC

10.95

9.95

ALIEN ADDITION

10.95

9.95

MINUS MISSION

10.95

9.95

METEOR MULTIPLICATION

10.95

9.95

DEMOLITION DIVISION

10.95

9.95

CASSETTE CABLE LEAD

QUICK SHOT 11 JOYSTICK

9.95

7.95

& INTERFACE

EDITOR ASSEMBLER MANUAL

24.95

19.95

BASIC

13.95

9.95

ADVENTURE MANIA

7.95

5.95

MANIA

7.95

5.95

ROBO-PADS

6.95

5.95

THE BLACK TOWER

5.95

5.50

RUNNER ON TREITON

5.95

5.50

BUILDER/MINEFIELD

5.95

5.50

TROLL KING

5.95

5.50

DADDIES HOT ROD

5.95

5.50

HUNCH BACK HAVOC

5.95

5.50

FUNPAC

6.95

5.95

CRYSTAL SWEEP

7.95

6.95

EXTENDED BASIC

BOMBS AWAY

7.95

5.95

FROGGIE

6.95

5.95

FROGLET/BATTLESHIPS

9.95

7.95

PEARL DIVER

7.95

6.95

OPERATION MOON

7.95

6.95

ASCOT STAKES

7.95

6.95

HOPIT

CHARACTER GENERATOR

BLASTEROIDS

BOMBS AWAY

BOUNCER

KONG

LIONEL AND THE LADDERS
ABM CONTROLVFROGLET

MINI MEMORY

SNEAKIES

KIPPY NIGHTMARE

OTHELLO

TOAD GRAPHICS

DIYAD

48K SPECTRUM

VOLCANIC PLANET
BLOCKADE RUNNER
GOLD RUSH
HUNCH BACK
PACCACUDA
LANCER LORDS
BIRDS

POTTY PAINTER
ALCHEMIST
PIN BALL WIZARD
JUMPIN JACK
ESCAPE M.C.P.

QUACKERS
FOOTBALL MANAGER
GOLF

HUNTER KILLER
SWITCHABLE PROGRAMME
JOYSTICK INTERFACE

VIC 20

All Rom Cartridge

SARGON CHESS
PIRATE COVE
SUPER LANDER
JUPITER LANDER
RAT RACE
ROAD RACER
MINE MADNESS
SUBMARINE COMMANDER
MOLE ATTACK
MACHINE CODE MONITER

SEND CHEQUE OR POSTAL ORDER NOW TO:

BLUE CHIP COMPUTERS, 16 Clapgate Lane, Goose Green, Wigan WN3 6RN

STATING NAME, ADDRESS, TEL No. & GOODS

REQUIRED.

OR PHONE TELE SALES ON WIGAN (0942) 495753
WITH YOUR ACCESS/BARCLAY CARD NO.

* General enquiries ring (0942) 322543

USUAL

PRICE

7.95

7.95

7.95

7.95

9.95
9.95
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7.95

9.95

6.95
6.95
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7.95

7.95

7.95
6.90

6.95
6.95
6.95

6.95

5.95

7.95

5.95

6.95
6.95
6.95

6.95

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24.95

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9.95

9.95

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19.95.

28.95
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4.50

6.95

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ANTI MATTER SPLATTER

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4.50

6.95

THE CATCH

5.95

4.50

7.95

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6.95

4.50

7.95

ENGLISH INVADERS

5.95

4.50

7.95

PACCACUDA

5.95

4.50

7.95

QUACKERS

5.95

4.50

6.95

EXPANDED 8 OR 16 K

7.95

5.95

MOVER MANIA

7.95

4.95

5.95

BIRDS AND APPLE TREES

6.95

4.50

5.95

ENGINE SHED

6.95

4.50

LUNAR RESCUE

6.95

4.50

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6.95

4.50

MYRAID

6.95

4.50

4.95

CRITTERS

6.95

4.50

4.95

4.95

COMMODORE 64

4.95

4.95

SNOWBALL (ADVENT)

9.95

7.50

4.95

COLLOSAL ADVENTURE

9.95

7.50

4.95

HUNGRY HORACE

7.95

5.50

4.95

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8.95

5.95

4.50

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8.95

5.95

4.95

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7.95

5.50

4.50

QUAK ATTACK

7.95

5.50

4.95

ZOIDS

7.95

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4.95

BUG SQUAD

7.95

5.50

4.50

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7.95

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4.50

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7.95

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19.95

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ARMAGEDDON

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4.95

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4.95

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7.50

4.95

17.95

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REVENGE MUTANT CAMELS

7.50

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TO; BLUE CHIP COMPUTERS, 16 Clapgate Lane, WIGAN.
Please send me .

Name .

Address .

.Tel

I enclose a cheque/p. order to the value of £.

ttewtrmn

WaUhautiar

leaping your way-a test of speed and
tactics with four screens each with
eight stages. Keep Mr. Bounce working
hard and score points... if you can!

HI BOUNCER! tests
reflexes and game
tactics to the
limit. It’s so tough
that a separate
7-level practice
program for kid
brother (or dad!)
is included.

On cassette for the
BBC B (versions for
the CBM 64 and
Spectrum coming
soon). £6.95

Discover the excitement of creative computing with

I

a versatile, easy-to-use sprite editor for the Commodore 64
which also demonstrates animation sequences on-screen.

With a choice of joystick, lightpen or user-definable keyboard
control Go-Sprite has an icon-driven command system for
ease and speed of use.

Go-Sprite can handle up to 32 HiRes or Multicolour sprites
and produce overlays up to seven layers.

Sprite data files can be made on disk or tape and two
accompanying programs enable you to produce data and
arrays for use in your own programs.

For the Commodore 64, on cassette £9.95; or disk £11.95.

All prices are Inclusive of VAT. Mirrorsoft programs are available from larger branches of Boots, John Menzies and W.H. Smith and from other leading software stockists.

Co hunting wKh
aCSARTHECAT

Help Caesar clear the larder of mice. Hunting along crowded
shelves you guide Caesar as he chases persistent mice
which are devouring plates of food. Widely praised when
launched on the CBM 64, acclaimed on the Spectrum,

Caesar Is now here for BBC B owners.

On cassette for BBC B and Spectrum £6.95 and
CBM 64 £8.95.

CutMItt your own OESAR

We have had so many requests for a
soft-toy version of Caesar, the lovable
black and white cat featured in our
much praised program Caesar the
Cat, that we have had some made.

He is cute and cuddly, with a body
length of approx. 12 inches. He is
yours (mail order only) for £8.50
(inc. p&p), while stocks last.

To MIRRORSOFT. PO Box 50. Bromley,
Kent BR2 OTT

Please send me the following (enter
number required of each item in
the space provided):

Hi-Bouncer! (HB01)
Caesar the Cat (CCOI)
Caesar the Cat (CC01)
6o-Sprite-tape (GS01)
Go-Sprite-disk (GS02)

I enclose a cheque/PO for £_

^made payable

to ‘Reader’s Account’; Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd.

Caesar the Cat-soft-toy

Or please debit my ACCESS/BARCLAY CARD for the sum of £..
Card no [ | I [ 1 n | 1 T~

B/K

Signature..

Name.

Address. ..

^ __ Postcode..

Offer applies to Great Britain and tire only. Please allow up to 28 days tor delivery in the UK. MIRRORSOFT is a registered trade mark of Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd., Co. Reg. No. 168660. Reg. Office Holborn Circus, London ECl

fl1lSTsia«e

JOHN WATSON-m

mn\/AJ\tJSunj

ing wildly. The first indica¬
tion of this happening is
when you hear yourself
skidding; fail to check that
and you go into a spin;
unless you're quick and
correct your motion there's
a good chance that disas¬
ter will occur when your
vehicle hits one of several
thoughtfully placed bill¬
boards, walls etc. The race
takes place in four progres¬
sive stages; if you get as
far as the last of these a
flick of the wheel enables
you to choose from one of
eight Grand Prix circuits —

Monaco etc. etc. Whether
these are actual replicas of
the real thing, only an
expert could tell you. To a
non-driving layman it's all
pretty convincing. After
only ten minutes' play I had
three broken ribs, a lacer¬
ated leg, severe burns all
over my body and irrever¬
sible brain damage. I left
the arcade with a statu¬
esque blonde on each arm
and a magnum of cham¬
pagne at my lips. It has to
be said: after TX1 any ordi¬
nary racing game is ... just
the pits!

that far — in a night-time iar central screen,
sequence. Otherwise, I Still, it does look good.

■ suspect that the triple Tell a lie; on the left-hand

TUCRP'C ivin screen effect is more of an screen there is a small inset

THtKb b ivu mis- appealing gimmick than an of the whole course in

game itself, which you can glimpse
f ^ Because although there is your overall progress. Mind

OT the Oldest of 3 much broader panorama you, the 'race' takes place
arcaae staples, jp the usual one- at such a clip that a novice

the simulated rac- screen games, there's no probably won't have the
ing car game. real use of the three time or the inclination to
For a start, it's almost as screens withm the con- look away from the dead
large as the real thing, fines of the game itself, i.e. ahead. There's a brake.
More eye-catchingly, there you can't, for example, see accelerator and a two-
are three screens rather cars approaching (reced- speed (High, Low) gear-
than the usual one. The ing?) from a distance — so stick. The wheel controls
panoramic view that far as this punter could are hairsbreadth fine — as
ensues is quite striking, make out anyhow, all the presumably they are on the
particularly — once you get action occurs on the famil- full speed real thing — so

that the slightest mqve-
ment has its effect.

Being a non-driver, the
merest hint of a curve in
the monitors had me veer-

g^llllplllPI

f/l^ - X

ilBlCl^^piii^H

' ■ . ' /■ Vi-“;v-<'^i5-£il’-i'-- •

Availably i^bn foi^ CBM 64

ACTUAL SCREEN DISPLAYS

The Most Graphical
Arcade Simulation
Ever Produced

by CHRIS KERRY

AVAILABLE FROM SELECTED BRANCHES OF:

RETAILERS CONTACT:

^WHSMITH

ALSO AVAILABLE AT ALL
USUAL SOFTWARE OUTLETS.

Greenchip

"ii'tBEftEHHinirg

CentreSoft

PCS DISTRIBUTION
Bulldog

SDL

If you have difficulty in obtaining your copy. Just fill in the Coupon below.

Post coupon now to: Thor (Computer Software) Co. Ltd.,
Erakine Induatrial Estate, Liverpool,
Meraeyside LB lAP Tel: 051-268 8821/2

I enclose Cheque/PO for £

Name

Address

Credit Cards - Orders accepted by Phone -
051-263 8521/2

I

DISTRIBUTORS AND OVERSEAS ENQUIRIES CONTACT PAUL 051-263 8521/2

ri£

Group Ltd.

30 Roseacre Gardens - Chilworth - Guildford - Surrey GU4 8RQ

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PROBABLYTHE LARGEST RANGE OF DISCOUNT SOFTWARE CURRENTLY
AVAILABLE — WITH THE LARGEST DISCOUNTS YOU’LL FIND

SINCLAIR SPECTRUM

RRP

Sabre Wulf 9.95

Lunar Jetman 5.50

Psytron 7.95

Lords Midnight 9.95

Fighter Pilot 7.95

Night Gunner 6.95

Mugsy 6.95

TLL 5.95

Trashman 5.95

Antics 6.95

Cavern Fighter 5.95

Jack & Beanstalk 5.95

Ad Astra 5.95

Kosmic Kanga 5.95

Manic Miner 5.95

Jet Set Willy 5.95

Fred 6.95

Snowman 6.95

Bugaboo 6.96

Dragonsbane 6.96

Beaky 5.50

Pyramid 5.50

Doomsday Castle 6.50

Automania 6.95

Cavelon 6.90

Hunchback 6.90

Football Manager 6.95

Blade Alley 5.95

Les Flics 6.95

Blue Thunder 5.95

War of the Worlds 5.95

World Cup 6.95

Hurg 14.94

Skull 6.95

please ring the above number.

r--""—---

M Coder II

9.95

7.45

Our

Learn Basic

12.95

10.45

Price

Tasword II

13.90

10.90

7.45

A Cf\

Pinball Wizard

5.95

4.45

4.50

Code Name Mat

6.95

5.45

5.95

7.45

5.95

COMMODORE 64

5.45

RRP

Our

5.45

Price

4.45

Valhalla 64

14.95

11.95

4.45

Revenge Camels

7.50

5.50

5.45

Beach Head

9.95

7.45

4.45

Klllerwatt

7.95

5.95

4.45

Blagger

7.95

5.95

4.45

Son Blagger

7.95

5.95

4.45

Space Pilot

7.95

5.95

4.45

737 Flight P.

7.95

5.95

4.45

Superpipeline

6.90

5.40

5.45

Gyropod

6.90

5.40

5.45

Sheep in Space

7.50

5.50

5.45

Loco

7.95

5.95

5.45

Star Trooper

6.95

5.45

4.00

Encounter

8.95

6.95

4.50

Solo Flight

14.95

11.95

5.00

Aztec Challenge

8.95

6.95

5.45

Hunchback

6.90

5.40

5.40

Chinese Juggler

6.90

5.45

5.40

China Miner

7.00

5.00

5.45

Olympic Skier

5.99

4.49

4.45

Cavelon

6.90

5.40

5.45

Heroes of Karn

7.00

5.00

4.45

Tales Arabian Nights

7.00

5.00

4.45

Twin Kingdom

9.50

7.00

5.45

0 Level Bio

6.95

5.45

11.95

Practicalc

44.40

30.40

5.45

Manic Miner

7.95

5.95

). Shown here is just a small part of our stock, if you

Please ask about CBM 64 disk soft¬
ware.

BBC MODEL B

RRP

Our

Price

Fortress

8.95

6.95

Spitfire

8.95

6.95

Football Man

7.95

5.95

Overdrive

7.95

5.95

Aviator

14.95

11.95

Blagger

7.95

5.95

Eagles Wing

7.95

5.95

Planetoids

9.95

7.45

Twin Kingdom

9.50

7.00

Cashbook

59.95

41.95

Chuckie Egg

7.90

5.90

ELECTRON

Guardian

7.95

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Hulk

7.95

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Arcadians

9.20

7.20

VIC-20

Flight path 737

7.95

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Jet Pac

5.50

4.40

ATARI

Zaxxon

14.95

11.95

Rally Speedway

29.95

23.95

Curse Crowley

9.95

7.45

ORIC - ATMOS

MARC

6.95

5.45

Hobbit

14.95

11.95

Name ..
Address

Tel No.

Group Ltd.

th>Guildford • Surrey GU4 8

Tapes required

Total Amount:

If you would prefer not to cut up your magazine then write the required details on a piece of paper.
Please make all cheques payable to: MLS Group Ltd.

Please ring if you have not received your order within ten days of posting it.

WHAT KONG game do
you think is best for the
Commodore 64?

ANALECHI NIVADI
London

• We just don't know,
vieux haricot. The truth
is, we can't abide 'em!
Dodgin' that dratted
anthropoid's barrels (or
other flotsam) just
doesn't turn our collec¬
tive crankshaft. Tell
you wot, tho'. We'll
give £5 to the Kong fan
who can contrive the
most awe-inspiring
and convincing plug for
his personal choice. (It
had better be good).
You never know, you
might get spotted by
Saatchi's and make
your fortune be selling
oil to the Arab states.
Me? I'm still waiting to
be spotted.

ssSf

vour\ettet.w»"®'

wai\to.. •

i tettetbase,

\

BoomZOS* .

S«5:r

No Subs

An Irate Pensioner
Writes

Use Force

/ WOULD like to know how
much it would be to send me
Issue No 1 of your great
magazine.

ADRIAN P\m,

Exeter.

• Whoops! Sorry Ade, and
all those others who've been
writing in asking for back
issues. 'Fraid the demand
has been so great that we're
flush outa copies. And until
that rapidly approaching
time when subscriptions will
be freely available, the only
solution is to flex those
speedy, well-oiled video¬
reflexes over the counter of
your nearest newsagent
each time release day draws
nigh. But no violence, please.
Oh all right—just a bit.

Combien?

I HAVE written a couple
of programs myself and
would like to know how
much Big K pays for
them.

MARK RYAN,
Blackpool.

• We don't have a
given fixed sum, as the
quality, originality and
sheer graft that goes
into progs varies so
much. Howzabout
minimum £50 up-wize
to £100 on the sliding-
shekels-scale?

If you do want your
prog to get a quick
going over, note that
priority is given to
those with clear docu¬
mentation attached.
(And label your cas¬
sette clearly.) Equally
alluring (if you have the
technology,) is a prog
tastefully wrapped in
its own 40 column
print-out.

THE Video Recordings Bill was bought in because nasty-
minded little men, such as film producers and the current
TV producers (who would probably peddle their own
Granny for money,) chose to pander to the sick-minded
and perverted in the fierce race for cash.

As I write, my own grandchildren are busy playing and
enjoying a ''clean" computer game. No one deplores the
fun violence in the 'A-Team' or 'The Fall Guy'. The objec¬
tion is to unchecked programming executed by exploit¬
ers, perverts and sadists in their unprincipled efforts to
obtain wealth.

W. LOXTON
Mabiethorpe.

• We're not wild about pervs and sadists either. Pops —
honest. What Big K stands for (trumpets!) is clear think¬
ing on very important legislation that could have far
reaching effects for us ail. If we've got to have censorship,
then the Who, the How, and the Why must be debated in
public. And let's make it specific to this vast, important,
popular and unique industry. It's not only inadequate but
ignorant to try to lump in vid games with legislation
existing for video films.

The inappropriately named Mr Bright will find in his
dictionary that video simply means 'I see'. Both films and
games require 'seeing', but apart from that, they just ain't
the same ball game at all.

Let us reiterate. There has been NO actual prosecution
in this country for "video game obscenity". And there's
no real evidence of Marquis de Sade types writing pro¬
grams, either. Don't panic.

Earnest plea

I AM the World's Greatest
Electron User. Well done —
for actually caring for us old
mistreated Electron types. It's
not Acorn's fault that they
didn't get our micros out in
time.

ASIF KHAN
Hounslow

# Why isn't it Acorn's fault?
Know something we don't?

NEXT TIME you need a poll, could you please pul some useless advert on
the reverse side, or make it double sided, or get on-line with a modem?

D.BUDGEN,

London.

• We had no idea, D.! Didn't think you'd treasure our Mike Male 'He
wrote one' piece so dearly. Just for you, we're going to use the Bat-
phone. Meanwhile, I've got to calm down the Editor, who interviewed

Slow down

I'M SURE that a lot of people who have computers
don't know or understand everything that is written,
so an indepth study in plain and simple young
people's English would be welcomed by a great
many people.

R. HARRIS
Leics.

WHY DON'T you get a learners' section in your mag¬
azine?

JOE BENSON
Limerick, Ireland.

• The aim of Big K is to pitch at ail leveis at once,
so there's something for everyone in each fab ish.
You'll pick up more than you realise when you're
having fun — so stop worrying about their intimi¬
dating bits, get your head down and enjoy!

UHE

NOISE

MY FRIEND told me that he
had had problems loading a
game on his Dragon. How¬
ever, he discovered that by
moving the power supply as
far away from the TV as pos¬
sible, his problem disap¬

peared, and the tape loaded
straight away. When I got
home,-I tried doing the same
thing with my machine, and
it loaded first time. Why?
ASLAN SEZEN
Charlton.

# What your mate was get-
ting was a nasty dose of 'line
noise." Remember that any¬
thing metallic that's attached
to your micro will act as sort
of mini radio transmitter. So
if your machine starts giving
you stick with interference
or general malingering, it's
worth having a quick spot
check on your proximities.
A'right?

TONYBENYON

edited by NICKY XIKLUNA

If ours Unrepentantly,

A Software Pirate . . .

YES, I do copy programs from friends'tapes — and I make
audio copies using two tape decks. I know it's theft and I
honestly don't care. Here's why. Computer software is, in
the main, overpriced rubbish. Just like music. I buy a lot
of records and I also tape a lot because I have been fleeced
enough by record companies. £5 plus for a record Is quite
a lot, considering an average of 40p goes to the musician.
Alright, you may say I'm not helping the poor muso very
much by taping his songs, etc, but I'm a semi-pro musi¬
cian myself. Somebody like David Bowie or Sting is hardly
going to miss 40p, and anyway, there is something in the
laws of patent about copying which the anti-tape brigade
never mention.

It is no breach of patent to manufacture a copy of the
patented article for one's own use, or to give a copy to a
friend. It seems record companies and software houses
want the best of both worlds. Surely the Copyright laws
and Patent laws are brothers under the skin, so surely
home taping is perfectly legal?

I would be less Inclinded to copy software if it was better
value for money. It is recorded on really cheap quality
tapes, badly packaged, poorly illustrated (Hi, Artie!) and
as for the standard of English . . .

Finally I am very shocked that you should wish to kiss
the arses of the software houses with sycophantic, anti-
tape-piracy articles. Why on earth didn't you raise the
points I have mentioned? Does it mean you have a per¬
sonal interest in a software company? Or do you just want
to keep your advertisers sweet?

I'd like some feedback on all this, from readers, writers,
and companies themselves, without the waffle about loss
of profits, etc, because I don't care. I just want better
software and at a lower cost, and I want it now!

PAUL BELLAMY,

Sheffield.

• Of course it's perfectly possible to take the full-blooded
anarchist point of view, as you have. It's no more than
the truth that as the megastars who make and sell pro¬
grams and records are all so rich, they won't miss your
money. I think you destroy your own case, however, by
saying that you would be less inclined to copy software
if it was better value for money. Why "less inclined"?
Surely your fearless stand shouldn't be diluted by false
and bourgeons considerations of things like "value for
money"? And isn't it true that people like you would still
feel aggrieved and ripped off even if it came free with the
milk? Ergo, you feel exploited and you want revenge.
Understandable, but don't climb on a moral soapbox
about it.

Do I have a personal interest in a software company?
No. Do I want to keep my advertisers sweet? Of course,
but not at all costs. And this problem affects all software
makers, not just those who have the inkredibly good
taste to advertise in BIG K. — Tony Tyler.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 54

ATARI

GRAPHICS

Using Antic mode 4

The best use of this mode
is with a redefined char¬
acter set. Using this you
can create some very
colourful effects on the
screen.

The following program
utilises this to create some
coloured bars on the
screen. As we are going
to only use 4 characters
there is no need to copy
the whole character set
across and I only define
the four characters that I
will be using, i.e., a, b, c
and d (see last month's
issue).

10 MEMTOP=PEEK(106):
POKE106,MEMTOP-8

20 GRAPHICSO:CHSET=
(MEMTOP-4)*256

30 DL=PEEK(560) + 256*
PEEK(561)

40 POKEDL+3,68:FORX
=6 TO 28

50 POKEDL+X,4:NEXTX

60 FORX=0TO31:READA

70 POKECHSET+97*8+
X,A:NEXTX

80 DATA 255,255,255,
255,255,255,255,255

90 DATA 85,85,85,85,85,
85,85,85

100 DATA 170,170,170,
170,170,170,170,170,170

110 DATA 85,170,85,170,
85,170,85,170

120 FOR Y=1 TO20:FOR
X=1TO 8

130 PRINT''abcd";:NEXTX

140 PRINT:NEXTY:

PRINT

150 GOTO 150

As you can see there are
four stripes of different
colours across the screen.
If you wish to see a few
colour variations change
line 150 as below and add
the other lines:

150 FORX=OTO 255:
POKE 708,X:NEXTX:PO
KE 708,40

160 FORX=0TO255:
POKE 709,X:NEXTX:PO
KE 709,202

160 FORX=0TO255:
POKE 709,X:NEXTX:PO
KE 709,202

170 FORX=0TO255:
POKE710,X:NEXTX:PO
KE 710,48

180 GOTO 180

effect printing all of these
new characters in the
inverse mode (i.e., after
pressing the Atari logo key)
has on their colours. The
only one affected will be
the blue 'a' which becomes
purple. This is in fact the
true fourth colour. The'd'
is actually a mixture of 'b'
and 'c'. The best way to find
out what colours are pos¬
sible is by experimenting.
Do not forget that you can
change the default colours
by using either the SET-
COLOR statement or by
POKEing the colours
directly.

As I promised last month
both redefined characters
and Antic mode 4 will be
used to create a game for

next month's issue. I am
glad to report that it is now
well on the way to comple¬
tion.

The idea behind it is that
you are in a power boat
going down a river. In order
to navigate your way safely
you will have to blast boul¬
ders out of your way. The
screen is in Antic mode 4,
the river, its banks and the
boulders are all redefined
characters and the boat
with its torpedoes are
going to be player mis¬
siles. Despite the fact that
the game is written totally
in Basic with absolutely no
machine code whatsoever
it still runs quite fast. To
find out how book next
month's copy right now!

Another possible varia¬
tion on this is to see what

BOOST YOUR
BEEB'S MEMORY

FROM PAGE 53

1150
1 160
1170
1175
1180
1185
1190
1200
1210
1220
1230
1240
1250
1260
1270
1280
1290
1300
1310
1320
1340
1355
1360
1365
1370
1380
1390
1400
1410

EQUD 8.0D212157
EQUB 0

REri_

FOR p.3.ss’':=0 TO 2 STEP 2
p:cas.74
C:OPT P3.s-3y.

LDY #0
LDR ?!<FE30
STR &73
LDR #12
STR 8.FE30
LDR 8<70
STR <;g<7i;>,Y
LDR ^73
STR &FE30
RTS

□:NEXT
ENDPROC

REM_

DEPPROCdump

PRINT•'"DUMPING TO RRM"
PRINT'"PLERSE URIT"

FOR i:;=0 TO &7FF

PROCwr i t-s-:: bu.f t er:;+1 >, «.8000+1 "i >
1420 NEXT
14;:::0 VDU7

1440 PRINT"PRESS <BRERK> ONCE"
1450 PRINT•"THEN 'YTEST'"

1460 PRINT'"IF RLL IS WELL
YOU WILL GET R MESSRGE"

1470 ENDPROC
1475

1480 REM_

1485

1490 DEF PROCwt-11^':; dataX, addressX >

1500 ?a:70=d.3.t.3.X

1510 ?&71==.3.ddressX MOD 256

1520 CRLL S.-74
1530 ENDPROC
1535

1540 REM_

1545

1550 L:* E. f" F R Hi C r e 3. d ( 3. d d res--
1560 ?!i:F6=.addre£-. MOD 256
1570 ?!i!.:F7^=.addres^^ DIV 256
1580 YX=12

1590 d.3.t.3;7=MJSR OSRDRM

1600 e;ndproc

Lose yourself
in the world of Activision.

diVisioH.

Your computer was made for us.

DOOMSDAY
CASTLE

is an arcade s^le game
with the feei
of a reai adventure

Doomsday Castle consists of a labyrinth of 76 complexly inter-connected Halls and Passages
where you will meet a whole host of adversaries serving the infinitely evil Scarthax, the Garthrogs,
the Orphacs, the phenomenally nasty Googly Bird and the Urks which manifest themselves in over
fifty unbelievably weird and wonderful guises.

Scarthax has scoured the Universe to bring together the six ancient stones of lifeforce. United in
Doomsday Castle they are being used to wield an irresistable power over the cosmos, emanating
waves of corruption through every galaxy

To save the Universe, you must battle your way through the Castle to find and collect the six

take on the role of our super hero ZKjGY
shown here above in his exploratory
capsule In combat withan Urk disgubed as a
pangaiactic gargleblaster (11} This Is a true
representation of the on-screen ^aphlo.

stones and use their force against
Scarthax to destroy Doomsday
Castle, hopefully escaping

yourself before the final _

cataclysmic explosion. /

The task is not easy / ’ ;
(saving the Universe | '

never is!) and It will ‘ ■

take youmany games to
unfold the structure \ i i
of D^msday Castle and |

discover the locations of the
ancient stones. The addictive
arcade style action will keep you
coming back to play but the
overall challenge should still
keep you occupied for months.

FANTASY SOFTVIMRE

is available from
W.H.SMITHS, JOHN MENZIES,
LASKYS, GREENS, RUMBELOWS,
SPECTRUM GROUP,
COMPUTERS FOR ALL and all other
good software retailers.

For 48K
Spectrum

is available at £6.50 from

FANTASY SOFTWARE, FALCONBERG LODGE, 27A ST GEORGES ROAD, CF^ELTENF^AM, GLOS GL50 BDTrf
despatched by return first class post together with free membership and current newsletter of the Fantasy Micro Club

Trade Enquiries welcome- telephone 0242-583661.

ADVERTISEMENT INDEX

Activision.38/94

Addictive.21

Anirog.39

Beyond Software.7

Blue Chip Computers.86

British Micro.8/9

Cascade.65

Channel 8 Software.80

Cheetah.31

Creative Sparks.55

Curragh.63

Database.79

Duckworth.65

Fantasy.64/95

Hutchinson.74

Incentive.5

Lothlorien.17

MDR.35

Megasave.78

Microdeal. Cov. 4

Micromania.33

Micro Power.81

Micro Workshop.65

Mirrorsoft.87

MLS Group Ltd.91

NatWest.32

QIC.2

Quicksilva. Cov. 2

Ram .16

R&R Software.42

Silica.23

Software Index..78

Solar.82

Supersoft.27

Talent.51

Tandy.47

Thor.90

Ultimate.49

Video Force.96

Video Palace. Cov. 3

Yamaha.71

WARRIOR’S

REVENGE

Land Of No Return

48K SPECTRUM

Send cheque or P.O. for £5.95 to:

WARRIORS REVENGE

LAND OF NO RETURN

c/o VIDEO FORCE,

115 Greenend Rd.,

Sawtry,

Cambridge,

Tel No: 0487 830940

(Please allow 28 days for delivery)

i^f-FR'OM'BRITAIN'SMOST
‘■‘•'..‘POPULAR HORROR FILM
V; ..-.•COMESAMOST
EXOI^NG COMPUTER GAME

A FAST MOVING GAME
OF SKtLt AND STRATEGY.
FOR THE COMMODORE 64

AVAILABLE FROM

)r. (i)

DISTRIBUTED BY

ALL GOOD COMPUTER

> V

PALACE VIRGIN GOLD

GAMES STOCKISTS INCLUDING

69FLEMPTONROAD,

THE VIDEO PAL7\CE

LONDON ET0 7NL

100 OXFORD STREET LONDON W1 .

PF-'NlflLiyM I r I’P.M'I I i I'JlUlfi fll 'If 11

TELEPHONE: 01-539 5566

It is the year 3000. Can d e«M |Hfeach wave of Killer Rob@^s as th^
attaoK and rescue the HumandroSwvivor? Wave after wave ra different
robots try to corner you in thePGaLacj^ic Arena. Will you win? High |».
speed arcade action game. Full cdlf5tJl"^aphicsjvlth sound. *

Machine Language.

AVAILABLE FOR:

COMMODORE 64-Tape £8 Disk £9.95; ATARI 16K-Tape £8 Disk £9.95; BBC MODEL B-Tape £8 Disk £9.95
ACORN ELECTRON-Tape £8; ORIC 16/48K-Tape£5.50; SPECTRUM 48K-Tape £5.50

> Dealers Contact

MICRODEAL DISTRIBUTION
0726-3456
or WEBSTERS SOFTWARE
''483 62222

Mail Order Sales from
Microdeal Mail Order 41 Truro Rd,
St. Austell Cornwall PL25 5JE

Credit Card Sales
Phone 0726 3456

Selected Microdeal Titles available from computer dealers nationwide or from larger branches of

and

Stores

Australia

$1.70.

New Zealand
$ 2 . 00 .
Malaysia
$3.25.

,^1X00 lUWP

ch wave of Killer Rob€^s as they
ivor? Wave after wave OT different
in theP^Galacj^ic Arena. Will you win? High
lame. Full cdi^r ^aphics with sound.
achine Language. 1

AVAILABLE FOR: ^

ARI 16K-Tape £8 Disk £9.95; BBC MODEL B-Tape £8 Disk £9.95
iRIC 16/48K-Tape£5.50; SPECTRUM 48K-Tape £5.50

No.5

Dealers Contact

MICRODEAL DISTRIBUTION
0726-3456
or WEBSTERS SOFTWARE
''483 62222

i from computer dealers n ationw ide or from larger branches of

and

Stores

m

L